Russell Kirk Center

@IVMiles argues in his review of "Radical of Radicals" that both Michigan and her Civil War governor, Austin Blair, have until now gone without proper credit. Jack Dempsey's new short biography does an excellent job honoring the wartime governor's dedication to human freedom.

"Whole-of-society surveillance and information management is the norm in large part because we have lost the significance of the public/private divide, which is necessary to any hope of curtailing runaway government power."

“At issue, then, is the almost unassailable fact that the practical is on the ascendant and the liberal has been assigned to the ivory tower.” @sunda16794

Policy alone cannot restore the health of a society. It depends on faith, family, and a shared sense of moral order. Timothy S. Goeglein and Craig Osten, authors of “What Really Matters,” tackle what they perceive as a loss of a sturdy foundation.

“One must admire @charlesmurray's courage and honesty in sharing his conversion experience with a public of intellectuals that will probably respond with attitudes ranging from indifference to hostility."

"@fhmcclatchey offers, instead, a series of short, reflective meditations on the 'permanent things' favored by all great poets since the time of Homer. That is not to say that his poetry is impersonal, or that we should want it to be."

"Rather, these attempts at catechesis tend to take the general concept and translate it into something of educational effect in a class on Biology, Calculus, or Medieval History." - @hadleyonfire "Classical Catechism" authored by @AnthonyEsolen

Can love or forgiveness overcome America’s fractures? Hren masterfully weaves the answer through various characters in his new “Blue Walls Falling Down." @DavidGBonaguraJ praises the novel as a tragic examination of racial politics, loneliness, and extremism in today's America.

“While radicals and extremists garner a great deal of publicity, the reality is that there still exists a bedrock of traditional values shared by an overwhelming number of Americans.” - Jeffrey Folks on @JM_Butcher's "The Polarization Myth."

"What they really feel like are 'visits.' You go to a friend’s house, sit down in the kitchen, in the living room, or on the porch. Your friend pours you a cup of coffee (or tea or wine), and tells you a story, which reminds you of a story, and the visit begins." @MidgeGoldberg

@Jacob__Siegel argues that modern democracies are sleepwalking into systems of surveillance in “The Information State: Politics in the Age of Total Control." Albert Norton Jr. reviews the convincing and alarming book.

The purpose of liberal education is greater than job opportunity. It is for equipping minds with knowledge and exposing them to timeless goodness, truth, and beauty. Read @sunda16794's review of Bob Pepperman Taylor's “Liberal Education and Democracy.”

"If modern technology is making it increasingly possible to have the opportunities for leisure that Athenian citizens had, then there has never been a better time to rediscover this forgotten ideal."

Here's part 2 of Dr. Jason Jewell's lection on Russell Kirk's 10 Conservative Principles: buff.ly/iZdoGOz

What were Russell Kirk's 10 Conservative Principles? Dr. Jason Jewell explores them all in a two part video lecture: buff.ly/PjxYW4q You can read the 10 principles and Kirk's explanation here: buff.ly/QuuyBau

"Blair’s socio-religious commitments led him to envision a world not only where races and genders were equal, but where what he thought were archaic and barbaric practices like the death penalty were finally abolished." @IVMiles

@fhmcclatchey is a @Hillsdale graduate, poet, father and author of "Killing Orpheus". Camilo Peralta reviews his collection of modern poetry, a world apart from the verse-less poetry flooding the generation.

@JM_Butcher, author of “The Polarization Myth: America’s Surprising Consensus on Race, Schools, and Sex,” argues that Americans are far less divided than the media suggests. Jeffrey Folks reviews his book and study of roughly 2,000 Americans.

“The result is less a polemic against the present than a gentle yet firm invitation to remember what we have nearly forgotten—that the good life is not a solitary pursuit of personal authenticity but a shared enterprise of commitment, sacrifice, and mutual regard.”

Rachel Hadas explores memory, nostalgia, and the quiet rhythms of ordinary life in “Pastorals,” a collection that blurs the line between poetry, prose, and intimate reflection.