Russellarbenfox
MY BLOGS
-
In Medias Res
http://inmedias.blogspot.com/
Essays, notes, and fragments--personal, political, and philosophical--from the midst of things
LATEST ARTICLES ( 588 )
-
Scenes from a Friendship
Note: the following dates and events are approximate, subjective, and possibly in part imaginary. The feelings behind them, though, are not. Read more
Posted on 15 June 2016 SOCIETY -
Ten Theses on Our Populist Moment
[Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic]Tomorrow, with the California Democratic primary, the populist developments that so many have observed in this electoral... Read more
Posted on 06 June 2016 SOCIETY -
Dear Mormon Voters of the American West: Maybe You're the White Horse We've...
[Cross-posted to By Common Consent]Just forget about the White Horse Prophecy. It's a fun bit of Mormon folklore, but like most folklore it's fictitious... Read more
Posted on 05 June 2016 SOCIETY -
Mid-Sized Meditations #12: Regional Cities and the Curse of "Glocality"
[Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic]One of the essential themes in my continuing study of and reflection upon the character and dilemmas of mid-sized cities i... Read more
Posted on 25 May 2016 SOCIETY -
Saturday Night Live Music: "Rainbow's Cadillac"
Melissa saw these guys just this past Tuesday. They didn't perform this song (probably my favorite Bruce Hornsby composition), but that didn't matter to me: the... Read more
Posted on 22 May 2016 SOCIETY -
All Right, So Maybe Terry Gilliam is Actually My Favorite Python. (Or Maybe Not.)
I suppose this is becoming a bit of a series. When I read the first volume of Michael Palin's diaries, I ended up thinking for a while why I liked the man's wor... Read more
Posted on 18 May 2016 SOCIETY -
Why I Strongly Support Bike Paths (Which I Basically Never Use)
The past week or two have been good ones for bicycling in Wichita. Thanks to the efforts of many people over many months, several long-developed and... Read more
Posted on 17 May 2016 SOCIETY -
Invisible Church, Immanent Community
[Cross-posted to By Common Consent]In the liturgical calendar of the Christian tradition, today is Whitsunday, the Day of Pentecost, a day to commemorate a... Read more
Posted on 15 May 2016 SOCIETY -
Saturday Night Live Music: "Never Surrender"
Today was my tenth graduation day as a professor here at Friends University--and it also happened to be a day on which I formally bade farewell to the largest... Read more
Posted on 08 May 2016 SOCIETY -
The Passing of a Senator
Senator Bob Bennett, a three-term Republican senator from Utah, passed away Wednesday evening. I never met him, and never particularly cared for his political... Read more
Posted on 05 May 2016 SOCIETY -
Three Reasons I Just Gave More Money in Support of Sanders (and So Should You)
So, I'm still contributing to the Sanders campaign. Why? Because I think his win yesterday in Indiana is the breakthrough, that all of sudden the math is going... Read more
Posted on 04 May 2016 SOCIETY -
What I've Learned, and David Brooks (Perhaps) Still Hasn't
[Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic]Among all the major right-wing voices of America's mainstream journalistic establishment, David Brooks is perhaps the... Read more
Posted on 03 May 2016 SOCIETY -
So, What Has Russell Been Watching?
If I'm going to get back into blogging, I might as well begin with something simple--like, what have I been doing over the past few months when I haven't been... Read more
Posted on 03 May 2016 SOCIETY -
Clearly, Price Charles Was Born to Play Polonius
"[T]he press was still the last resource of the educated poor who could not be artists and would not be tutors. Any man who was fit for nothing else could... Read more
Posted on 25 April 2016 SOCIETY -
Prince Rogers Nelson, RIP
I was actually planning to write a blog post today, my first in a couple of months, talking the passage of time and how it's leaving me with feelings both good... Read more
Posted on 21 April 2016 SOCIETY -
Mid-Sized Meditations #11: Thoughts on Localism and Resilience
[Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic]Yesterday, I had the opportunity to speak to the "Resilience Group," an informal gathering of environmentalists, activists... Read more
Posted on 16 February 2016 SOCIETY -
The Deep and Discomforting Point of Populism (and Socialism, and Certain Sorts o...
[Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic]Over the weekend, a friend of mine shared an article which had joined in the Hillary Clinton-Bernie Sanders fight, a... Read more
Posted on 08 February 2016 SOCIETY -
Mid-Sized Meditations #10: Soil and Sacrament in Certain Kinds of Cities
[Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic]This past weekend here in Wichita, I participated in the Eighth Day Institute's symposium, Soil and Sacrament: The World a... Read more
Posted on 21 January 2016 SOCIETY -
"No Doubt."
Rest in peace, Mr. Rickman. So many of your performances on stage and screen were wonderful, but my favorite role of yours was Colonel Brandon is Emma Thompson'... Read more
Posted on 14 January 2016 SOCIETY -
Assessing the Freedom Of, and the Freedom From, Cities
[Cross-posted to Bleeding Heart Libertarians]Jacob Levy's Rationalism, Pluralism, and Freedom is a superb work of political theory and intellectual history. Read more
Posted on 12 January 2016 SOCIETY