Blurred Lines
I have an (unfavorable) piece on the current papacy in the May issue of Chronicles.
Published in print
Liberalism and social issues
Here’s a talk I gave to the H. L. Mencken Club a couple weeks ago. A shorter version was published at Crisis Magazine.
Social Issues: What, Why and Whither
by James Kalb
Today I’m going to speak about social issues: what they are, why they’re issues, and where they’re going. I’ll include some comments … More ...
Beyond populism
I have a piece in the August issue of Chronicles about what’s needed in view of the populist upsurge symbolized by Trump’s rise and most recently Brexit.
The Donald
I give an explanation of the Trump phenomenon at Chronicles Magazine.
Technocracy Now
I have an essay in the current First Things on the current political and social situation and how to respond to it. The whole thing is available here.
The practice of politics
[The following review appeared in the December, 2014 issue of Chronicles:]
This is a history of liberalism as it appears to an intelligent, well-informed, and thoroughly convinced English liberal who worked for many years as an editor and correspondent for The Economist. It is useful as a sympathetic exploration of the stages through which the … More ...
Sex and the religion of me
The following essay appears in the December, 2014 First Things:
… More ...Why has the equivalence of same-sex and opposite-sex relations suddenly become a moral and social absolute? That it has is plain to see. In the Supreme Court’s recent Windsor decision, which struck down much of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, the majority
A necessary book
[The following review appeared in the June, 2014 issue of Chronicles:]
We have been enduring the cultural revolution of liberal modernity. It is hard to say exactly when that revolution began, but it took a great step forward in the 60’s, when social and religious tradition lost its last shreds of public authority, and … More ...
A highly acceptable man
The following review of Robert P. George’s Conscience and Its Enemies appeared in the October 2013 Chronicles:
… More ...Conscience and its Enemies is a collection of Robert George’s recent writings for a general audience. In addition to the title topic, it includes chapters on the defense of natural marriage, the protection of life from conception
Review of Garry Wills’ Why Priests?
The following review of Garry’s Will’s Why Priests? appeared in the June 2013 Chronicles:
… More ...Garry Wills identifies himself as a Christian. He says he accepts the creeds, along with prayer, divine providence, the Gospels, the Eucharist, and the Mystical Body of Christ as the body of all believers. He thinks it a bad thing