Few things moderate my politics more than bad faith arguments and policy positions that ignore the messy reality of economic conditions, political viability, and democracy. Perhaps no single outlet does more to keep me a center-left moderate than the Jacobin. A recent piece entitled “A Defeat for Frackers” is a great example of this. My […]
Read more "A Defeat for Frackers?"Fossil fuels also produce an enormous amount of energy at a fairly low cost—that’s why we use them in the first place. We depend on them because rich countries, such as the United States, have failed to invest in any other arrangement. But the fossil-fuel companies that have plotted and lobbied and coddled to prevent […]
Read more "The Cost of Modernity"Late last summer, I sold the 1850 brick Italianate row house I had renovated over the last five years and purchased a massive 1910 late Victorian home. My “new” home has been well cared for over the years. The original windows are still intact throughout (and were re-roped at some point in the last five years or […]
Read more "West Central Kitchen Update"Academia is deeply broken, a product of its wild success and staggering failures. It cranks out the finest scholars, leaders, and minds the world has ever seen. It also buries students in unmanageable debt and breaks many of those same scholars with its insidious caste system. How can a system that is so successful that […]
Read more "Academia’s Caste System"The Southern Strategy is a myth! Let me start with this: Candace Owens is wholly unqualified to speak at a Congressional hearing on the rise of white nationalism. Full stop. She has no training, formal or otherwise, as a historian. She is a journalism school drop out who peddles conspiracy theories online. On her best […]
Read more "Historical Revisionism Done Dirt Cheap"By the time then-Vice President Biden had arrived, he could sense I was uncharacteristically nervous- and quickly gave me a hug. After the swearing in, as Ash was giving remarks, he leaned in to tell me “thank you for letting him do this” and kept his hands on my shoulders as a means of offering […]
Read more "When Truths Collide"Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that he was signing an executive order “eliminating the Common Core and the vestiges of Common Core” in the Florida public school systems. This has been a conservative rallying point for nearly a decade. They hate the Common Core. Why? Let DeSantis explain: “You would have situations where the parents […]
Read more "The Con Comes Full Circle"