“Eric Miller on Christopher Lasch and Wendell Berry.” Elias Crim and Pete Davis talk with Eric Miller about two of FPR’s guiding lights, and they also share their reflections on last month’s FPR conference.“The Case Against Sentimentality.” InAmerica Magazine, Michial Farmer evis … | Continue reading
What I’m writing is not an exposé of the Christian college, nor a bitter and defiant account of my triumph over an evil system, but a confession of my own failures, faulty motivations, and despair. | Continue reading
If we learn about ourselves and our homes through travel, we don’t just become better “citizens of the world”—we can become more conscious and thoughtful citizens of our own places. | Continue reading
“Hawley to Introduce Bill to Move Federal Agencies out of Washington D.C. to Economically Stagnant Areas.” Jack Crowe outlines Josh Hawley’s new proposal. It sounds like Senator Hawley has been listening toPatrick Deneen.“Our Overdue Reckoning with China.” John Burtka critiques t … | Continue reading
All in all, mark The Vermont Papers down as a brave if idealistic attempt to chart the beginning of a campaign to preserve and refresh liberty, community and democracy in the one small state best suited for such a revival. | Continue reading
Little do I know that in a few days I will have died properly: by explosion. | Continue reading
Plough Quarterly: Vocation. The new issue ofPloughhas several good pieces on the meaning and value of work. One of my favorites is theinterview with Mike Rowe.“Why You Never See Your Friends Anymore.” Judith Shulevitz demonstrates that as our working hours become “desynchronized, … | Continue reading
“‘These Global Days.’” Adam Schwartz reviews the newly published The Grail Mass and Other Works, by David Jones. It conveys Jones’s critique of empire and globalism: “It was modern imperialism’s lethal implications for local peculiarities that made it especially disturbing to Jon … | Continue reading
Where do the porchers from across the Pond go to escape the entrapment of a modern, concrete, urban sprawl? | Continue reading
Theologians have long used the language of economics to help explain God’s ways. They often focus on redemption as a kind of transaction. I think this is just one aspect of God’s economy. | Continue reading
By God’s grace, this child of parachurch upbringing coupled with a healthy dose of American independence is growing in his appreciation for the institution ordained by God. | Continue reading
“The Case Against GMOs: Cautionary Tales From Uganda.” With biting wit, Mary Serumaga argues that legislation to introduce GMOs to Uganda is being driven by foreign investors rather than local needs: “Biodiversity is an asset that is vulnerable to commodification. Abandonment of … | Continue reading
But on this day, I am the louse. It’s my “impudence” and “cursed speed” that has made me break what little union I had with my fellow mortals. | Continue reading
An appreciation for labor and the cycle of nature is not itself enough for sustainable human dwelling. We also need a re-appreciation of the durability and independence of the works we produce. | Continue reading
Video recordings from our 2019 conference on the legacy of Wendell Berry are now online. We hope those of you who weren't able to join us in the flesh will benefit from these, and do plan to be attend the 2020 gathering (stay tuned for details)! In the meantime, subscribe | Continue reading
This past weekend, I took a group of students up to the annual Prairie Festival at The Land Institute in Salina, KS. I do this every year, as part of my effort to introduce the students to some genuinely radical thinking regarding environmental sustainability, local food systems, … | Continue reading
“Book Review:The Household and the War for the Cosmosby C. R. Wiley.” Jake Meador reviewsThe Household and the War for the Cosmosby C. R. Wiley, in which Wiley argues that households are the building-blocks of the world.“Hope Beyond Technique: On Jacques Ellul.” Robert Dean Lurie … | Continue reading
I thus find myself in the odd position of resisting romanticism while, nevertheless, hoping that future conditions will create that temptation. | Continue reading
While the nationalization of sports media outlets brings games and analysis to every living room in America, fan culture retains a very distinct regional and local flavor. | Continue reading
The failure to distinguish between art and beauty has caused much confusion. Art and beauty have two different but overlapping trajectories–one towards union and the other towards transcendent reality. | Continue reading
It is a hybrid, sacramental understanding of the earth and matter and of being in the world. She seems to say that even if the earth of Chilhowee is dry or the trees of the Smokies are stunted, we must cherish them because they remain good. | Continue reading
Several people have written reflections on last week’s conference. If you weren’t able to make it, you can read whatRussell Arben FoxandScott Richertmade of the gathering.“Academia’s Holy Warriors.” Jon Baskin has a long, thoughtful essay considering the ongoing conversations spa … | Continue reading
Disenthralling ourselves from the past is an American tradition, and gaining a clear-eyed vision of the flaws and achievements of previous generations is itself part of our heritage. | Continue reading
Like the Macleans, we are listening for those inaudible, but not imperceptible, words underneath the rocks in the river that runs through our own lives. | Continue reading
Thanks to all who came to Louisville this weekend for our annual conference. We had about 300 people join us for the day, making this the largest FPR conference yet. For those of a localist persuasion, our political, economic, and cultural situation can seem grim. But as Wendell … | Continue reading
The Wilderness calls forth the bond of community, labor, and leisure. It calls forth the best in humanity, so long as humans understand their relationship to the Wilderness. | Continue reading
Both Dreher’s and Deneen’s projects impel vital questions: how can the Faith be preserved, and how can we protect ourselves from the progressive strain of liberalism? Perhaps a synthesis of anarchist and conservative postures can yield answers. | Continue reading
The Front Porch Republic is launching a print journal! We've set up a GoFundMe campaign to help support this project. Please consider contributing to fund production costs and to join with us in this exciting venture. To get a taste of Local Culture: A Journal of the Front Porch … | Continue reading
Paul Schrader, the famed screenwriter and director, does not make subtle films. His latest movie, First Reformed--the story of a depressed, emotionally exhausted, and ultimately suicidal minister (played by Ethan Hawke), a man haunted his failed marriage, his dead son, his collap … | Continue reading
“Florida man” is the source of many ridiculous headlines. So many that now there is a “game” you can play by typing your birthday and “Florida man” into Google to see what headline comes up. September 5: “Florida man caught with nearly 200 illegal lobsters.” September 6: “Naked F … | Continue reading
“Wayfaring in America.” Brian Smith reviewsThe American Road Trip and American Political Thought, by Susan McWilliams Barndt—a book that reflects on what Americans’ fondness for travel narratives suggests about our political culture. He concludes with the “radical possibility tha … | Continue reading
By seeking to protect and restore natural beauty, create lovely urban design, bring art into our communities and support local sustainable agriculture and healthy fish and wildlife populations, we can also build community and reduce polarization. | Continue reading
Yuval Levin recently highlighted right and leftwing critiques of capitalism in National Review’s May issue. Many of these critiques, he says, are serious and should not be ignored. “For the most part, these complaints are not fundamentally economic but rather are moral,” writes L … | Continue reading
The truth is that many American Christians do not want a local church. We’re too independent and consumeristic for that. | Continue reading
That this country boasts something called “The Great American Songbook” is one of the best jokes around. The Great American Songbook? Our songs—let alone songbooks—don’t stick around long enough to get great. We mow through our past like dry grass. Our most convincing traditions … | Continue reading
“What a Famous Poet Can Teach Rural Pastors.” Stephen Witmer looks at George Herbert’s classic and asks, “what if we were to readCountry Parsonfor its original purpose: as a guide for doing rural ministry?”“Celebrating the American Front Porch.”Strong Townshad two essays last wee … | Continue reading
Beauty is the beginning and end of all true knowledge: really to know, one must first love, and having known, one must finally delight; only this “corresponds” to the Trinitarian love and delight that creates. | Continue reading
Those who are inclined to agree with Patrick Deneen (and others) that liberalism has indeed failed may ask what way of life would be more conducive to human flourishing. Deneen speaks favorably of something akin to Rod Dreher’s Benedict Option, where people seek to build a “count … | Continue reading