Culture

Oikophiles – the Political Party We All Need 2
- Culture, Featured, Politics, Uncategorized
- August 28, 2025
Are you an oikophile or an oikophobe? Conservative philosopher Roger Scruton (1944-2020) coined these two words from the Greek oikos, meaning household, home, or place. But Scruton broadened this meaning to include culture. Accordingly, oikophiles are those who love their homes and the culture passed down through generations. Oikophobes may love their private homes, but disdain, or even
READ MORE
Cracker Barrel Rebrand Fiasco a Symptom of a Non-innovative Nation 12
- Culture, Featured, Uncategorized
- August 27, 2025
Just as Generation Z is scraping the “millennial grey” paint off the natural wood in their homes, Cracker Barrel gave itself the sad beige makeover nobody asked for. Nearly every McDonald’s has received this makeover in the last decade. While style and decor changes across generations are normal, the leap from what the kids of
READ MORE
Rekindling Romance in a Politically Correct Age 16
- Culture, Family, Featured, Uncategorized
- August 26, 2025
On a midsummer’s morning, a close friend and I met for coffee. Anne is married, retired, and the mother of four and grandmother of several. Although we talk often by phone, nearly two years had passed since we’d last seen each other, and we’d both, well, softened with age. For a while, we sipped our
READ MORE

Barrel Logos and Buttermilk 23
- Culture, Economics, Featured, History, Uncategorized
- August 25, 2025
Somewhere, in a conference room adorned with reclaimed barnwood paneling ordered in bulk from a supplier in Shanghai, a well-compensated executive must have declared: For the sake of relevance, we must redesign the Cracker Barrel logo. On and on this executive rambles about “modernity,” “Gen Z, “TikTok,” or whatever corporate buzzword is in fashion now.
READ MORE
Mike Rowe and the Need to Bring Back Shop Class 37
- Culture, Economics, Education, Featured, Uncategorized
- August 21, 2025
A few years ago, I interviewed a married couple for an article, who, although only in their mid-20s, already owned a thriving business. This couple had met in a high school welding class – a fact which prompted the husband to joke that “sparks flew.” Humor aside, I was intrigued to hear that a welding class
READ MORE
Why Friendship Is Essential to Cultural Renewal 28
- Culture, Featured, Philosophy, Uncategorized
- August 20, 2025
Suppose you want to change the world for the better. Where to begin? One place is friendship. We are, as Aristotle teaches, social animals, designed to live in community, to build societies where each plays a role as part of a whole, and to find meaning through relationships. Aristotle suggests in the “Nicomachean Ethics” that eudaimonia
READ MORE