“Faux the Humanities?”
“Faux the Humanities?”When the (Lack of) Value in LiteratureOvertakes the (Lack of) Quality in Literature A lot of talk going around (this is only one of the latest examples) about the demise of the...
View ArticleQuotations in Action: My Piece on Round Church, Cambridge
Quotations in Action: My Piece on Round Church, Cambridge I recently discussed how, as a writer, I’m now trying to use quotations better–to not just quote the best lines, but place them in the context...
View ArticleThe Baptistry of the Imagination
The Baptistry of the Imagination Many things in life have I seen with great incorrectness and understood with immense inaccuracy, yet is it so crazy for me, now in middle age, to compare the human...
View ArticleTwo Texas Poems in 2023
Here are two poems that continue to stick with me—two poems that somewhat involve Texas as a place. One poem, “Sailing Ashland Avenue,” (Fortnightly Review, Feb. 2023) by Robert Archambeau, spreads...
View ArticleA Totality Without an Eclipse: from Edward Said
From the 1982 essay by Edward Said (1935-2003): “Opponents, Audiences, Constituencies, and Community”: Certainly there is a great deal to be said in favor of a university manifestly not influenced or...
View ArticleFUNDAMENTALS TO MISUNDERSTANDING POLITICS Chapter 0.0
Fundamentals to Misunderstanding Politics Chapter 0.0 Toward Political Riddles (Rather Than Maxims)? 0.1 Oak Boat: I remember you told me how one night in April 2016 your hosts in Rome took you on an...
View ArticleFUNDAMENTALS TO MISUNDERSTANDING POLITICS Chapter 0.1
Fundamentals to Misunderstanding Politics Chapter 0.1 What Do You Mean By “Maxims?” (see Chapter 0.0 here) Newt Monk: Thus, do not listen to what I say or seem to say, but try to get a glimpse of what...
View ArticleFUNDAMENTALS TO MISUNDERSTANDING POLITICS Chapter 0.2
Fundamentals to Misunderstanding Politics Chapter 0.2 Why Are Maxims Adyanta(or “Tent Stakes”) Needed? (see Chapter 0.1 here) Oak Boat: So why do we need this crap? Well, according to Dewitt T....
View ArticleFUNDAMENTALS TO MISUNDERSTANDING POLITICS Chapter 1.0
FUNDAMENTALS TO MISUNDERSTANDING POLITICSChapter 1. 0 What Drives Leaders and Followers? (See Chapters 0.0 here, 0.1 here, and 0.2 here.) Newt Monk: Of course, I would prefer no leadership, a civil...
View ArticleFUNDAMENTALS TO MISUNDERSTANDING POLITICS Chapter 1.1
FUNDAMENTALS TO MISUNDERSTANDING POLITICSChapter 1.1 Are We, As Followers, Too Far Beyond Driven? (See Chapter 1.0 here.) Oak Boat: I want to come back to that line you quoted earlier from the...
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