Just some stuff:
A really nice brief intro to Czeslaw Milosz’s poetry. I would never have thought to compare him to P.G. Wodehouse, for instance.
Did American creative writing programs help create a self-obsessed and anti-political culture, not just in the US but around the world? This piece (which is itself, let us admit, a little self-involved) makes the suggestion. It’s worth considering, anyway.
Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald teamed up to write the wonderful Doobie Brothers song, “What a Fool Believes.” This is them talking about it many years later.
Dave Brubeck’s “mid-century modern” house, with “traditional Japanese” accents, is for sale. Looks amazing! If only I had three million dollars.
On “diversity training,” and whether or not it is effective. Studies are ambiguous on this. It seems we still have a long way to go, and should keep experimenting to understand how best to address prejudice.
This is right: we need institutions, multilateral institutions, to help “contain” China. Whether the UN is a crucial institution of this sort is another question; I think not, I think it is an important institutional venue for states to discuss matters. But the crucial multilateral institutions will be alliances and free-trade blocs.
Biblical archaeology is a contested field. The evidence uncovered is systematically ambiguous, but super-charged with theological and political interests. This review of three recent books gets at that.
Be well, everybody.