– THE COLLECTION –

Collecting is Harder Than It Looks

It's a smaller collection for August. For one, it's August, when readers take a break, or so the internet stats tell us. For another, this collecting of conservative women's works is harder than it looks. What does "conservative" or "right" mean today? The answer is complicated by the politics of personality currently in-vogue, and that is on top of the fact those terms weren't crystal clear before the politics of personality.

So while I'm thinking through categorization issues before gathering a politics-focused September collection (I'm not looking forward to it either, but it is a major election year, after all), I give you a tighter selection of choice links for August.

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What Happens to Fashion When Exclusivity Stops Being Chic? by Phoebe Maltz Bovy
"Rather than simply wonder (as many are these days) whether fashion’s rigid power structures are flexible enough to permit greater diversity, it’s helpful to step back and look at what the industry is. Exclusivity is a feature — the defining one — not a bug."

Political Wisdom and the Limits of Expertise by Jennifer Frey
Long, thoughtful read from a new publication, Breaking Ground.

J.K. Rowling's lonely fight for women's rights by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
More on the Rowling affair, with background and more context for who Rowling is than I've seen in a while.

I Cited Their Study, So They Disavowed It by Heather Mac Donald
Manhattan Institute fellow cites — actually, quotes — a study's conclusion and so the authors of the study retract it for "misuse."

RGB and the Notorious Meme-ification of Female Leaders by Meghan Daum
What do we gain by objectifying women leaders? A short term attitude boost, maybe? What do we lose? More. We lose a lot more.

Are Parents Making Middle School Worse? by Naomi Schaefer Riley
A one-two punch of best friending and hovering complicates early teendom.

Hey NFL: Take up the mantle and combat anti-Semitism by Melissa Braunstein

As Mayor of Minneapolis, I Saw How White Liberals Block Change by Betsy Hodges
An op-ed in which she says the unsayable. Anyone with experience in local politics sees it. Not all recognize it. Hardly any admit it.

Twitter has stolen my life by Bridget Phetasy
It hasn't stolen mine, but this read shows how easily it could. I feel what she describes — and I figure that's why I don't excel at the platform. I can't handle giving it that much control so I disappear frequently. Inconsistency is not great for Twitter success, but it's a win for real life.

This Is Your Gap Year by Erin Lochener
Try on the "wild idea" that you know better how to educate your kid than an institution does, and if it doesn't feel like "education" then call it a "gap year," which used to be a good and useful thing. Of the silver linings the pandemic has cast, this rethinking of education is one of the most welcome.

More Mudslinging in the Debate Over School Reopening by Elizabeth Nolan Brown
The pandemic has made it plain that parents need options to educate their kids and we need to look for ways to help them those options, not dismiss them.

And finally, a political link to get you in the mood.
The Sweep by Sarah Isgur
It's a new weekly series about explainers for campaign mechanics and strategies from a former behind the scenes campaign gal. The link is to the introduction. Read on or subscribe as you please.

Things to listen to

The Saving Elephants Podcast on quarantine and other things with Brooke Medina.

On the Bookshelf

The Liturgy of Politics: Spiritual Formation for the Sake of Our Neighbor by Kaitlyn Schiess
The book comes out on September 8, but I have been reading an advance copy. During her time in seminary — typically a challenging time when the faithful who thought they understood Christianity realize that they didn't know as much as they assumed they knew — she noticed that there was both too much and not enough politics from the pulpit, and she seems (I'm not finished reading yet) to have come to the conclusion that we've gotten our politics from the pulpit mixed up. We need more ideas, fewer campaigns or policies. Furthermore, we've reversed the flow of influence and allowed our politics to inform or faith rather than have our faith inform our politics. So far, it has been a very thought provoking read, and I recommend reserving a copy.

Ghosting the News by Margaret Sullivan
A review of her book on the lamentable demise of local journalism.

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The Collection of published works mostly by right of center women is curated by Leslie Loftis as an extracurricular labor of love. Leslie also teaches life administration, as in the stuff that we do not notice until it does not get done. Those podcasts and videos may be found at lifeadministration.com.

Photo by Jeffrey Hamilton on Unsplash

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Until the political season begins in earnest,