A Politics of the Common Good?
I talk to The New York Times about why it seems everyone from JD Vance to CT Sen. Chris Murphy is talking (and fighting) about reviving one of the oldest ways of thinking about politics
Notes from the Middleground
Analysis and criticism of the antiliberal right, social-justice progressivism, and cultural topics
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What Was “Woke 1”?
All these years later, many of us still fall short of understand what was distinctive and pernicious about the Great Awokening
How Not to Be an Online Intellectual
No one annoys me on Twitter/X more than these five people
Economic (and Political) Dangers Looming Ahead
Wanna know why DSA-aligned candidates are doing so well at the ballot box? Look at the data—and pay attention to how much it now costs to attend a football game or concert.
There’s Now a Little Less Linker in the World
But what if the increased health of the body comes at the price of the health of the soul?
America Commits Hegemonic Suicide
I don’t think we’ve grasped the gravity of what’s been unfolding in the Middle East over the past five months
The Dying Days of Punditry
Or maybe it’s more accurate to say that everyone’s a pundit now, even the LLMs trying to render me superfluous
The Stillborn Post-Trump GOP
Will Vance or Rubio come out on top in the scramble to define the Republican future? Or will neither of them?
The (Still) Rising Anti-Christian Right
It’s ascendent online, as some prominent responses to Christopher Nolan’s Christianized Odyssey make clear
Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey
The acclaimed director gives us a surprisingly modern Bronze Age warrior
Ask Me Anything—July 2026
I answer questions about why I’m so opposed to court packing; how I manage to teach, write Substack posts, and scramble to finish a book all at once; and whether legacy media is headed for extinction