Culture
In the Washington Free Beacon, Matthew Continetti calls for the middle-class values of ordinary people to be protected from the “two counter-cultures” of the left and the right. Amen.
Meanwhile, at Simple Justice, Scott Greenfield asks an excellent question about our present state of affairs: “At what point do the grownups stop taking every childish grievance seriously?”
At The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Corporate Governance, Akshaya Kamalnath and I write about pro-diversity efforts that turn out to be empty gestures.
Philosophy
At The Remnant, Jonah Goldberg interviews Paul Bloom about suffering, meaning, and the good life.
Politics
At Persuasion, Ross Douthat speaks about the need for and the limits of expertise ― through the lens of his own struggle with an illness much of the medical profession wouldn’t recognise.
For the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, I have written a condensed and mostly legalese-free version of my argument for making the ideas of conscience and integrity central to our understanding of when compelled speech is wrong.
At Policy Options, Eugene Lang laments the apparent demise of the pro-business faction of the Liberal Party of Canada, and the unfortunate consequences it has had for Canadian public policy.
History
In the Liberties Journal, Holly Brewer takes a deep dive into the history of the Enlightenment’s complex relationship with racism, arguing that some writers have been unfairly slandered as racist, while others ― mostly, but always, obscure ― really were “freaks and monsters”.
On The Mariner’s Mirror, Jeremy Michell speaks about HMS Warrior ― the first iron warship, the biggest warship when she was launched, and a rare survivor from the 19th century.
Law
At We the People, David Kopel and Michael Luttig debate the history and original meaning of the “right of the people to … bear arms” under the US Constitution.
Business
At Bloomberg, Matt Levine has an overview of Rogers’ experiment with corporate governance by circular firing squad.
Spaceflight
On Facebook, Chris Hadfield has posted a scan of the January 18, 1992 Sasktoon StarPhoenix classified ads page that included one by the Canada Space Agency to which he responded. The rest, as they say, is history.
Music
The great Jan Johansson, “Emigrantsvisa”