Monthly Archives: May 2017

Daybook, Poetry, Fiction & the Arts

John Palfrey, Biblio Tech

May 13, 2017·0 comments

A former librarian at Harvard Law School under Dean Elena Kagan, John Palfrey was what librarians call a “feral” –…

Daybook, History

W. M. Thackeray, Vanity Fair

May 12, 2017·0 comments

Reading William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair was, let it be said, a complete pain in the ass. I have never loved longer…

URLs I Love

Left Write and Centaur

Leftwriteandcentaur

Ideas and Provocations

The Economist because it intelligently digests the previous week’s global politics, business, culture and personalities. Since 1844, The Economist has championed a libertarian-centrist vision with humor and respect for its readers. Unlike many publications, The Economist keeps track of its own editorial commitments, freely (and almost proudly) confessing errors of judgment over time. I read it cover-to-cover late every Saturday night, with in a rocking chair with a glass of wine.

The New Yorker because it still showcases some of the world’s best long-form journalism, both on headline issues and on little-known ideas, personalities, and events. Extra points for its cultural criticism and for “Talk of the Town”

The Atlantic because, for the last thirty years, it has framed the national agenda. Reading The Atlantic, I have a pretty fair idea what politicians and journalists will be talking about over the ensuing months.

Harper’s Magazine because it is reliably skeptical of wealth, power, media, and established institutions. Bonus: Harper’s Index.

The New Inquiry because this Brooklyn-based online-only magazine has an eclectic vision and critical sass that give The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Harper’s more than a bit of competition.

The New York Review of Books because I can’t read everything on my own, and The New Criterion because I don’t want to pretend that the only readers remaining in the world are on the Left.

Visual Arts

Colossal because it’s a mind-blowing digest of visual culture.

idsgn: A Design Blog because design – good and bad – shapes everything from policy to daily life.

Poetry & Fiction

The Poetry Foundation because most every American style ultimately finds a home here.

World Literature Today because the United States isn’t big enough for everything that needs saying.

The Sun Magazine because I like hearing people telling their own stories – especially people I’d never otherwise meet.

World Affairs

Le Monde Diplomatique (English edition) because it is strongest where other sources are weakest, developing stories from rarely-covered parts of Eastern Europe, West Africa, and Southeast Asia as well as fresh perspectives on women’s lives, the environment, migration, and the global economy.

PRI’s The World because, from Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) women’s lacrosse to Iranian elections and Brazil’s growing Pentacostal churches, this program is on the ground everywhere. Bonus: every show devotes a segment to the world’s popular musics. The playlist alone is worth a visit.

Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy because I want to know how the establishment thinks about the world. The American Interest because – though it reflects views from the foreign policy establishment – critiques it from a nationalist perspective, and The New Internationalist because it does the same from the Left.

Politics & Policy

The New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times and “All Things Considered,” because, as a matter of fact, those journalists who work in “the mainstream media” regularly do extraordinary work.

The news & opinion digests realclearpolitics, realclearpolicy, realclearworld and others from RealClear Media Group because because they curate a range of views, though largely within a Centrist and Center-Right frame.

Jacobin, The Nation, In These Times, Truthdig, and Moyers & Company because the mainstream often overlooks stories and perspectives developing on the Left. On the Right, the go-to list includes American Conservative, The Weekly Standard, and The National Review.

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