I love News of the Day, the concept the site, everything about it, but I do get that the paywall is frustrating for most people. Although you get about three months of my writing for free there just signing up, I'd rather my writing be easy to access. So I'm just putting everything over there on here. You can read it in either place!
If you like what's going on consider leaving a tip on my Ko-Fi site. As higher education starts to spiral here in the United States, support for this kind of writing becomes more important daily. I believe the way we have been doing things - debate tournaments instead of public debate events, high-cost low-quality academic journals that are inaccessible by journalists or even engaged public intellectuals, and courses that focus mostly on discipline and obedience than material that matters are all responsible for the climate we find ourselves in.
The politics of the moment must be slow, thoughtful, well written, and not dive into the anxiety and panic that traditional media benefits from. I have colleagues and friends who watch Fox News or MSNBC religiously because they want to figure out what's going on - this only whips ones emotions into a frenzy and creates a crippling anxiety about wanting to act and not being able to act.
Acting is not politics as it is a reaction not a response. Reading and writing, thinking things through is the democratic way. Anything else plays into poor power dynamics. But we are addicted to the "clap back" of social media.
I'll try my best to pump the brakes on this site but there's a lot of black ice on the road.
Anyway, love that you are here reading this. I'll keep trying to bring my best in a climate where the students just cynically want to know how to get an A, the administrators just want to appease the government, and the public wants to march around in circles holding signs. Not a lot to get excited about out there.