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Blog 3 Columns

  • Tolkien’s Odd Alternate Ending to ‘The Lord of the Rings’

    Tolkien’s Odd Alternate Ending to ‘The Lord of the Rings’0

    There are many reasons J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings is considered one of the greatest stories of all-time. (It was voted the best book of the 20th century in a UK readers’ poll a decade and a half ago, and not for the first time.)    I’m convinced that one of

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  • The Pope’s Favorite Straw Man: ‘Individualism’

    The Pope’s Favorite Straw Man: ‘Individualism’0

    Since his election in 2013, Pope Francis has repeatedly attacked what he now calls the “liberal-individualist” or “neoliberal” vision of the world. With last week’s statement to the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, Francis has renewed the attack, but in the process has exhibited a number of political biases and demonstrably false assumptions.  This line of attack

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  • The Hidden Costs of Universal Preschool Programs

    The Hidden Costs of Universal Preschool Programs0

    New York City mayor, Bill de Blasio, announced last week his plan to expand universal, taxpayer-funded, full-day preschool to all 3-year-olds regardless of family income. This initiative, dubbed “3-K for All,” expands on de Blasio’s previous effort to offer universal preschool to all of the city’s 4-year-olds, a plan he called “Pre-K for All.” That plan now

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  • Jonathan Haidt: 6 Ways Universities Can Fight Intellectual Intolerance

    Jonathan Haidt: 6 Ways Universities Can Fight Intellectual Intolerance0

    New York University professor Jonathan Haidt has become one of the most vocal critics of the university system’s culture of intolerance. The founder of Heterodoxy Academy, whose mission is to improve “the academy by enhancing viewpoint diversity and the conditions that encourage free inquiry,” Haidt says universities today face an enormous but important challenge: “They must

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  • Free College Works–If You Want to Help the Rich

    Free College Works–If You Want to Help the Rich0

    According to a 2016 poll, more than 60 percent of Americans are in support of offering free tuition at public universities. Given recent developments in New York, that dream may be closer to reality than many think. Such wide support for free college is not surprising, especially considering that Americans regularly hear that a person

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  • Elementary Students Being Indoctrinated in Minnesota’s Top School District

    Elementary Students Being Indoctrinated in Minnesota’s Top School District0

    As I’ve pointed out elsewhere, a large percentage of students in public schools today are being trained to view the world primarily through the lenses of race, class, and gender. Another good example of this phenomenon came to my attention last week in Intellectual Takeout’s backyard. Highlands Elementary is a K-5 school in Edina Public

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  • What Princess Charlotte’s Portrait Teaches Us About Raising Adults

    What Princess Charlotte’s Portrait Teaches Us About Raising Adults0

    Whenever a picture of one of the royal children comes out, it’s sure to be plastered over every magazine and newspaper for days to come. Such is the case with the latest birthday portrait of Princess Charlotte (shown above), which Kensington Palace posted on its Instagram page. As has been noted, the portrait shows that

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  • Pope Francis Has Forgotten the Church’s Own Grand Libertarian Legacy

    Pope Francis Has Forgotten the Church’s Own Grand Libertarian Legacy0

    Well, it’s a pretty big deal when the Pope attacks libertarianism by name. It’s even more interesting when my Spanish-language publisher believes that the Pope, in an academic paper, was attacking language used by me in particular, by implication but without citation. In a choice passage, the Pope says that libertarianism “deceptively proposes a ‘beautiful

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  • Millennial Journalists Behaving Badly

    Millennial Journalists Behaving Badly0

    On Friday, former Wall Street Journal writer Bret Stephens wrote his first column for the New York Times. And boy, did it cause a fuss. The column, headlined “Climate of Complete Certainty,” politely pushed back on the idea that the narrative of climate change is settled science. Stephens, referencing an article penned by Times writer

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