April 16, 2019 — Steven Hayward
Like Paul I’m overwhelmed by the sight of Notre Dame in flames. I don’t know how many times I have visited, but one of my favorite things to do in Paris is to linger outside the Shakespeare & Company bookstore right across the Seine and gaze at the cathedral especially in the changing afternoon and early evening light, much as Cezanne and Monet must have done to inspire some of
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April 15, 2019 — Steven Hayward
Sad news a few days ago of the passing of Paul Hollander, the long time professor of sociology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and author of several important books about the culture of “fellow-traveling,” that is, the pathology of left-leaning intellectuals and cultural figures who were always taken in by the latest Communist totalitarian regime merely because they mouthed the slogans of revolutionary utopia. The most famous of
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April 15, 2019 — Steven Hayward
I have thought from time to time of walking through Sproul Plaza at Berkeley with Harvey Mansfleld’s book Manliness tucked conspicuously under my arm, just to see what might happen. Because Manliness is an ode to “toxic masculinity” don’t you just know. I think I have a clue how it might go, because Mansfield has been disinvited from giving the commencement address at Concordia University in Montreal, as he explains
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April 14, 2019 — Steven Hayward
Looks like the Bernie Bros are starting to have some fratricidal impulses. First up, Bernie lashed out at the Center for American Progress according to CNN: Sen. Bernie Sanders has accused a leading liberal think tank, founded and run by longtime Hillary Clinton allies, of orchestrating attacks on him and two other 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. In a letter provided to CNN by his campaign, Sanders addressed the board of
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April 14, 2019 — Steven Hayward
It is fun to watch the left react to Trump’s suggestion that he might send migrants and asylum seekers to “sanctuary cities,” but their outrage may conceal the panic of the political fallout if Trump goes through with it, as he should. Anyone remember the Mariel Boatlift in 1980? That’s when Fidel Castro declared that anyone who wanted to emigrate to the United States was free to do so within
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April 14, 2019 — Steven Hayward
I think this edition of the podcast is going to be my very favorite episode for a long time to come, and you’ll see why if you get into it. Along with two guest hosts—John and Elizabeth Eastman—I sat down a few days ago for an extended conversation with William B. Allen, a teacher and thinker who defies easy description. All three of us were students of Bill’s way back
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April 13, 2019 — Steven Hayward
This is the week scientists say we can see a black hole for the first time, but that’s only because they didn’t look at the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential field. That is sucking up more mass and light than 100 black holes. But this was also the week Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand discovered what she called “tactile nuclear weapons.” This is almost as good a neologism as the late Nevada Sen.
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April 12, 2019 — Steven Hayward
I’m still not done with my long road trip that is keeping me from new posts here, but not to worry—the Week in Pictures will appear tomorrow morning around 7:30 eastern time as always; also, on Tuesday I taped what I think is going to be one of our best podcasts ever, one of my “origin story” formats with William B. Allen. But before I rush off to today’s wrestlemania
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April 8, 2019 — Steven Hayward
This week is week three of a four-week almost non-stop road itinerary for me, which is why posts are—and will continue to be—sporadic. I’m starting to feel like a rock star on the road, except without the limos, roadies, groupies, drugs, and heart-valve replacement surgery. So in other words, not like a rock star at all really. Anyway, I’m making a few public appearances this week that are free and
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April 7, 2019 — Steven Hayward
How “Progressive” is Progressivism? Is there actually a “side of history,” or is that just the lazy formula of presumptive socialists who think they have a monopoly on the truth and don’t need to argue with or persuade anyone? In another of my lecture series for the William F. Buckley Jr. Program at Yale, I walk through more of the details of Progressivism then and now, showing continuities—and also some
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April 6, 2019 — Steven Hayward
• Feel good story of the day: Remember when Harry Reid lost an epic battle with an exercise band in his bathroom a few years back, leaving the former boxer from Searchlight, Nevada looking like he’d gone 20 seconds in the ring with Mike Tyson in his prime? Well guess what, mom: Reid has lost to the exercise band a second time, when a jury ruled against him in his
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April 6, 2019 — Steven Hayward
I’m really hoping Joe Biden runs. We need the free entertainment. Though he will lock down the Dirty Old Man segment of the electorate. Maybe we’ll get a special prosecutor to look into the whole matter. Speaking of things that continue to pay dividends, whatever happened to that old liberal slogan, Move On? The left just can’t move on from the Mueller disappointment, and are still mired in the first
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April 4, 2019 — Steven Hayward
Lots of interest right now in a New Yorker article, “The Day the Dinosaurs Died,” about a paleontological find in North Dakota that purports to encapsulate the moments and hours after the dinosaur-killing meteor struck 66 million years ago. It’s a fun read, though some scientists have been expressing skepticism—perhaps borne of jealousy? The research hasn’t been published yet in a peer-reviewed journal! What—do we need to replicate an asteroid
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April 3, 2019 — Steven Hayward
Another crazy busy week, but I hope to catch up with several stories by the weekend. In the meantime, as couple quick drive-by shots at things goin on: • I heard the other day that Trump might appoint an “immigration czar” for deal with the border crisis. A czar? A CZAR!! Why is it taking so long for Adam Schiff to claim that this is proof of Russian collusion? •
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April 2, 2019 — Steven Hayward
The hits—in both senses of the term—just keep coming for Sloppy Joe Biden. Here’s New York magazine writing in 2015 on “Nine Times Joe Biden Creepily Whispered in Women’s Ears.” Then there’s this segment from The Daily Show back in 2014 about Biden’s “Audacity of Grope.” Should have been a sign back then that he’d have problems with his weirdness. I agree with Paul that this shouldn’t be a serious
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April 1, 2019 — Steven Hayward
Trump is a godsend not just to the media, but to meme generators and parodists everywhere. This one may be my current favorite though: But then there’s this terrific story in today’s Los Angeles Times about New York City’s severe culinary deprivation: For Cramped New York, an Expanding Dining Scene The bright lights of New York City beckon to the restless and the hungry. In the city that never sleeps,
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April 1, 2019 — Steven Hayward
So it’s April Fool’s Day—the day when you’re supposed to fall for . . . fake news. Which means it’s just another day for CNN. Yet another great American custom the media has ruined for everyone. (Though I am still skeptical of today’s news that Mick Jagger is getting a heart valve replacement operation soon. I think this is a deep cover story for his unfolding plan to become the
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