David Brooks notes that last week’s elections here in England–which included Tory Boris Johnson being elected as Mayor of London–signals a shift in global conservatism. Britain, he suggests, is home to a new breed of conservative which has left Thatcherite econo-centrism behind, while American neoconservatism keeps looking for another Reagan. As he puts it: That…
[I’m here just mirroring my original post at Generous Orthodoxy.] So what do folks make of the recently unveiled “Evangelical Manifesto” (download the pdf)? On the one hand, I think it is in the spirit of a “generous” orthodoxy of the sort that motivated this blog from its inception. In general, I think it rightly…
I recently had the opportunity to make a pilgrimage to Brantwood, the home of John Ruskin on Lake Coniston. It was a very moving experience, and as a keepsake, I bought a copy of the Everyman’s Library edition of his autobiography, Praeterita. It opens with a fabulous meditation on just the sort of Toryism I’ve…
I once again find myself easily singing along with David Brooks in today’s column in which he extols folks like C.S. Lewis and John Ruskin. In the face of the de-humanization of industrialization and its dis-enchantment of the world, they rejected chronological snobbery and looked back to the medieval imagination for hints of an antidote….
I’m worried that it’s a tad voyeuristic, but I just love photographic features like The Guardian‘s series on “Writer’s Rooms.” And this past weekend they published a similar piece called “Night Visions” that provided a peek at some famous folks nighstands and bedside tables. Of course, one never knows how artificial these snapshots are, but…
Comment magazine has been posting a series of interviews with authors, artists, and activists–in the spirit of the Paris Review and Sports Illustrated. This includes a photo and commentary on the author/artist’s workspace (akin to the Guardian‘s similar tradition on “Writer’s Rooms“). Today Comment has posted a Q&A with me for those who might be…