Facing the Past
Calhoun: American Heretic by Robert Elder. Basic Books, 2021. Hardcover, 656 pages, $35. Reviewed by Miles Smith IV In his 1953 opus The Conservative Mind, Russell Kirk summed up John Calhoun’s contribution to intellectual conservatism succinctly when he noted that...
Nerve Plasm Palpitations?
Conscience: The Origins of Moral Intuition by Patricia S. Churchland W. W. Norton & Company, 2019. Hardback, $27.95 Reviewed by Daniel James Sundahl A caveat to a common reader who might think to read Patricia Churchland’s Conscience: The Origins of Moral...
Free Ride
Why We Drive: Toward a Philosophy of the Open Road by Matthew Crawford. William Morrow, 2020. Hardcover, 368 pages, $29. Reviewed by Addison Del Mastro “When you ride alone, you ride with Hitler!” So reads a famous American propaganda poster from World War II,...
Is the Religious Right Really so Incomprehensible?
Religion and the Rise of Capitalism By Benjamin M. Freidman. Alfred A. Knopf, 2021. Hardcover, 560 pages, $37.50 Reviewed by James E. Hartley Sometimes it seems like discussions in this country are taking place in two isolated camps. Every now and then, that suspicion...
How to Read the News and Stay Happy
Reading the Times: A Literary and Theological Inquiry into the News by Jeffrey Bilbro. InterVarsity Press, 2021. Hardcover, 200 pages, $24. Reviewed by Casey Chalk “We’re going to win so much, you may even get tired of winning,” proclaimed then-presidential candidate...
Kirk saw poetry, fiction, tradition, and restraint as essential to understanding America and preserving its character. In his review of "On America," @cjscalia explores Kirk’s vision of the founding, statesmanship, literature, and the enduring ideas that have shaped the republic.