“Praise to Those Still Coming Through On Song” An appreciation of poet John BalabanI was born American in a little clinic in Saigon, Vietnam, on Ho Chi Minh’s birthday. My dad had been sent to Vietnam—as he was to be sent to Afghanistan later—by Southern Illinois University Carbondale, as part of an Agency for International… Jan 19 24January 19, 2024Article at Common Reader
The Rise and Fall of The “Empire” of One American University“As when a man has ben in pure estat, And climbeth up, and wexeth fortunat, And ther abideth in prosperitee; Swiche thing is gladsom, as it thinketh me, And of swiche thing were goodly for to telle.” —Chaucer, “The Knight’s Tale,” qtd. as an epigraph… Sep 30 21September 30, 2021Article at Common Reader
Requiem for a Young Soldier Who VanishedIn Breughel’s Icarus, for instance: how everything turns away Quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry, But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shone As it had to on the white legs… Aug 28 20August 28, 2020Article at Common Reader
Beauty and the Beast at the “World’s Largest Rattlesnake Roundup” The Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup features beauty contests punctuated by orgies of slaughter, with presiding Jaycees dressed as cowboys.The first beauty contest The 60th-annual Miss Snake Charmer Pageant kicked off the 61st-annual Rattlesnake Roundup in Sweetwater, Texas. It was held in the Municipal Auditorium on a Thursday night in March 2019. Contestants had to be 16 to 19 years… Mar 29 19March 29, 2019Article at Common Reader
Found Objects: Proof That Hell AwaitsA moving box (SMALL / PEQUEÑA), taped shut and cut open several times, is labeled with a Sharpie: LIBRARY / KNICKKNACKS / & Watches / & Dive Challenge Coins. Inside are journals, books, and a little wicker basket holding money from several countries,… Jul 13 21July 13, 2021Article at Common Reader
The Exiled and The Devil’s SideshowDriving north out of Baton Rouge on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in October, the sky bluer than the Gulf of Mexico, it is hard not to feel guilty for some reason, as if you have done something wrong but not been caught, or someone is waiting for you… Dec 13 18December 13, 2018Article at Common Reader
Memories of Standing Rock, Five Years Later: Part One An eyewitness account of the end of the engrossing first act of the Standing Rock movement.John Griswold is a staff writer at The Common Reader. His most recent book is a collection of essays, Pirates You Don’t Know, and Other Adventures in the Examined Life (University of Georgia Press). His forthcoming collection, The Age of Clear… Feb 28 22February 28, 2022Article at Common Reader
Gettysburg and the Problems of Filling a Form A Noh play about the Civil War encounters the harsh enactments of the politics of memory.Art is a universal experience, we like to think, but its individual forms are culturally arrayed. The difficulty for both maker and viewer is understanding how they mean. Take Noh, a traditional Japanese theater that became its own form in the 14th… Nov 20 19November 20, 2019Article at Common Reader
Bob Woodward and the Stories We TellBob Woodward, often praised with superlatives such as “the best reporter of our time [and maybe] the best reporter of all time,” has 24 short videos on investigative journalism on the site MasterClass. These are from 2017, but I only just watched the… Mar 23 24March 23, 2024Article at Common Reader
A Nonprofit Trying to Make Health Care Not a Choice Between Bankruptcy or Suicide Either never get sick or hope that the NABIP’s pursuit of adequate, affordable health care prevailsThe National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals (NABIP) is a nonprofit trade organization that “represents more than 100,000 licensed health insurance agents, brokers, general agents, consultants and benefit professionals.” NABIP… Mar 26 24March 26, 2024Article at Common Reader
Socialism 2023 Was the Sound of Grievances, but No Solutions At their most recent gathering, leftwing thinkers and activists still find it hard to make a plan.The word “freedom” floats in American rhetoric like a Berndnaut Smilde cloud in an empty ballroom. People see meaningful figures in it, but it shreds in the slightest breeze. Ronald Reagan began using the word in the contemporary American political… Oct 20 23October 20, 2023Article at Common Reader
2016 Documentary Pertinent to Ongoing Russian InvasionOleg’s Choice: A Personal Look at the Conflict in Ukraine (Java Films, 2016) is an insightful profile of two young Russian men, Oleg and Max, who volunteered to fight without pay in the Donbas after conflict erupted there in 2014. It is directed by… Mar 06 22March 06, 2022Article at Common Reader
The Broken Heart of AmericaThe Broken Heart of America: St. Louis and the Violent History of the United States On the day I started my job at Washington University, an HR rep asked a group of us to introduce ourselves. I said I grew up in southern Illinois, where St. Louis was… Oct 29 20October 29, 2020Article at Common Reader
What Debra Monroe KnowsA new memoir on class, education, and relationships. Debra Monroe teaches in the MFA Program at Texas State University and is the author of six books, including The Source of Trouble (winner of the Flannery O’Connor Award) and On the Outskirts of… Sep 24 15September 24, 2015Article at Inside Higher Ed
