“Kansas” is a metaphor for the good old days, an apt one for times when “average” meant good and decent and true, especially “an average American” – as American as apple pie.
Read More »Roger Nowosielski
State of the Union Circa 2020 – Part IV
Where does Steve Bannon's anti-elitism go wrong? It’s in failing to distinguish between the kinds of populist movements that may ensue.
Read More »Poetry Review: ‘Precision’ by Laurie Duesing
Although this work dates back a few years, the current COVID-19 pandemic makes it more relevant than ever before.
Read More »State of the Union Circa 2020 – Part III
The notion of the common good, the very aim of responsible legislation and sound government, is made obsolete by the fact that the public, such as it had become, no longer has much of anything in common.
Read More »State of the Union Circa 2020 – Part II
What was it about the immigration issue that had so energized the voting public? White supremacy re-emerged in response to Trump's dog whistle.
Read More »Book Review: ‘A Jury of Her Peers’ by Susan Glaspell
'A Jury of Her Peers' by Susan Glaspell is a showcase of how to write a powerful short story. A story detailing the quiet desperation of some women's lives
Read More »Poetry Review: ‘Design’ by Robert Frost
Design may be blind and impersonal, but it is also the great leveler: it is just as much at work, and in the exact same way, in all creatures great and small, even the lowly spider.
Read More »State of the Union Circa 2020 – Part I
Looking back to Eric Cantor's surprising re-election loss in 2014 to uncover the root causes of present-day anomalies in the American political landscape.
Read More »Deliverance
I live in a wasteland. Nothing but wasteland surrounds me. Civilization is its middle name, Progress, its vanguard. Supermarket culture shoved down our throats By hucksters of no particular persuasion, Walmart its proud flagship Where cheaper is better and bigger is quality. Bigger cars, bigger houses, bigger fries, Big Mac. …
Read More »Book Review: ‘Rumors of Peace’ by Ella Leffland – Two Tales in One – Part Two
Ultimately, 'Rumors of Peace' by Ella Leffland is a manifesto to hope – hope that someday we might overturn the dark pages of our recorded past and find our way at last.
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