The 1980s And Sitcoms

There is this new sitcom called The Goldbergs that is set in the 1980s. The trailer doesn’t look all that funny. When I first heard that there was going to be a sitcom set in the 1980s, my first thought was that the producers would be kind of sloppy and treat the 80s as some kind of . . . . Continue Reading »

#38

In his last comment on his own recent post on the most important of the Federalist Papers, Carl Scott asks that more attention be given to Federalist 38, which is often overlooked. I concur. And since I gave a Constitution Day lecture at Middlebury last week, and spent some time on Federalist 38, I . . . . Continue Reading »

American Jewish Mind-Shaping Books

For those of you who like such things, an interesting and helpful list: A catalogue of the works that shape the Jewish mind in America today from  The Tablet . The choices express “the collective inheritance of the Jewish people as read by Jews like us in . . . . Continue Reading »

On Loving the City

A  post  yesterday by my St. John’s colleague Marc DeGirolami about Augustine’s two cities—the earthly and heavenly—reminded me of something I read in  Peter Brown’s recent book  on wealth in ancient Rome. Brown argues that a decisive shift in the . . . . Continue Reading »