Newsletter Archive​
Newsletters from the current and preceding year
2023
-
October 1, 2023 / Vol. VIII, No. 19: poetry announcement, cranky memo from the cinema desk, commentary on passage of the CR to fund the government at FY2023 levels for 45 days, and a note about opening day of the House Oversight Committee's Hunter, I mean, Joe, Biden impeachment inquiry…
-
September 15, 2023 / Vol. VIII, No. 18: poem publication announcement, Putin's defense of Trump, Kim's defense of Putin, impeachment inquiry, budget chaos, Boebert escorted from theater…
-
September 1, 2023 / Vol. VIII, No. 17: reports on my recent return to a favorite poet first read when I was eighteen, Harold Bloom on Walt Whitman, the sentencing of Proud Boys leaders, and Moscow after eighteen months of war…
-
August 15, 2023 / Vol. VIII, No. 16: conservative case that Donald Trump and others are disqualified from holding federal office by virtue of Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment, a closer look at Biden voters who are not all just coastal elites, trivialization of the prosecution of Trump when judges and prosecutors are treated as pop celebrities…
-
August 1, 2023 / Vol. VIII, No. 15: a note about an upcoming essay, analysis of an argument made by pretenders for the Republican nomination, comment on bipartisan gerontocaracy, Barbie frenzy…
-
July 15, 2023 / Vol. VIII, No. 14: Mona Charen's refutation of Trump's "bonkers" claim that during his presidency America was respected all over the world, the mysterious case of the disappearing whistleblower, a memo from the film desk…
-
July 1, 2023 / Vol. VIII, No. 13: deer sighting on Springwater Corridor, capsule review of Behind the Scenes at the Museum by formidable novelist Kate Atkinson, Prigozhin, the Supreme Court six's mutiny against the 20th century…
-
June 15, 2023 / Vol. VIII, No. 12: return to routine after pleasurable sojourn in Tulsa with thoughts about Cormac McCarthy and reactions to Trump's crimes and the indictment…
-
June 1, 2023 / Vol. VIII, No. 11: commmentary on the debt deal vote, the PEN America incident and controversial reception of Russian dissdents, new Substack posts…
-
May 15, 2023 / Vol. VIII, No. 10: links to recent articles at my Substack site, Mill Hill Scientist by James L Jim Stevens, some good memories, and baseball…
-
May 1, 2023 / Vol. VIII, No. 9: announcing transition to David Matthews Portable Bohemia at Substack
-
April 15, 2023 / Vol. VIII, No. 8: the trash talk affair, the Tennessee three and GOP disdain for democracy, classical education and cultural heritage…
-
April 1, 2023 / Vol. VIII, No. 7: indictment frenzy, book recommendations, prisoner rights crusader Marjorie Taylor Greene (extreme sarcasm alert)…
-
March 15, 2023 / Vol. VIII, No. 6: a day in the life of an obscure man, a dose of perspective on America's "ironclad" commitment to Israeli security, years of anarchy…
-
March 1, 2023 / Vol. VIII, No. 5: Marjorie Taylor Greene's call to blow up the union, federalism on amphetamines, the expurgation of Roald Dahl, furor in the newsroom of The New York Times…
-
February 15, 2023 / Vol. VIII, No. 4: review of the Indian film Adieu Godard, commentary on the State of the Union, the French and le wokisme, balloons and balloon-like objects…
-
February 1, 2023 / Vol. VIII, No. 3: melancholy farewell to the PBS NewsHour's Politics Monday feature, recommended commentary on trans issues, indictment of a former FBI agent with links to a Russian oligarch, department of speculation and rumor and more…
-
January 15, 2023 / Vol. VIII, No. 2: thoughts about friends in California, the classified documents mess, hope springs infernal as spring training looms just over the horizon…
-
January 1, 2023 / Vol. VIII, No. 1: tribute to Judy Woodruff, Ocasio-Cortez's nay vote on December 23, sudden Russian death syndrome…
2022
-
December 15, 2022 / Vol. VII, No. 24: holiday thoughts about family and friends, a note on the zany Reichsbürgers conspiracy, yet another not so subtle dig at Marge T. Greene…
-
December 1, 2022 / Vol. VII, No. 23: the holiday season, a Greg Bigler essay about repatriation and Harvard University, the Carolina-Clemson game, changes in House leadership and at the PBS NewsHour…
-
November 15, 2022 / Vol. VII, No. 22: the election, an anecdote about György Lukács, Tony Judt Thinking the Twentieth Century…
-
November 1, 2022 / Vol. VII, No. 21: Barack Obama out on the campaign trail, the assault on Paul Pelosi, grim Ukraine, a movie note…
-
October 15, 2022 / Vol. VII, No. 20: Review of Timothy Snyder's discussion of fascist thinker Ivan Ilyin, Putin's authority on history and main man on the ideas front, the fictional character "Donald Trump, successful businessman"…
-
October 1, 2022 / Vol. VII, No. 19: Notes about Masha Gessen and her book The Future Is History, Putin's machinations in Ukraine, setting the record straight on Trump's claims that the FBI and DOJ are controlled by "radical-left scoundrels"…
-
September 15, 2022 / Vol. VII, No. 18: Remembering Jean-Luc Godard and welcoming reports from Ukraine where Russian forces are engaged in a strategic military regrouping in response to the Ukrainian counteroffensive…
-
September 1, 2022 / Vol. VII, No. 17: John Aubrey's Brief Lives, student debt forgiveness, semi-fascism, a bizarre craze for non-alcohol wine…
-
August 15, 2022 / Vol. VII, No. 16: writing the birthday poem, the search at the Trump palace, a controversial press release from Amnesty International…
-
August 1, 2022 / Vol. VII, No. 15: family rendezvous, two brief film reviews, commentary on the passing of Bill Russell, the perilous allure of the elusive third party, what to look forward to if we suffer a Trump encore…
-
July 15, 2022 / Vol. VII, No. 14: book groups, Amanda (dir. by Mikhaël Hers, with Vincent Lacoste, Isaure Multrier, and Stacy Martin), running, the mysterious case of the vanishing Secret Service texts, Russian terrorism in Ukraine…
-
July 1, 2022 / Vol. VII, No. 13: art gallery recommendation, Cassidy Hutchinson's public testimony before the Jan. 6 committee…
-
June 15, 2022 / Vol. VII, No. 12: Dardenne bros film (Deux jours, une nuit) with Marion Cotillard, Jan. 6 hearings, a defense of Joe Biden by Tom Nichols…
-
June 1, 2022 / Vol. VII, No. 11: Rose Festival 2022, three films with Virginie Efira, an interesting article about two very different ways of looking at the debate over race, racism, and what racial progress might mean…