In the Perilous Realm: Tradition and Memory in “The Rings of Power”
At the waning of the year, looking ahead to the blaze of Christmas, I’ve been reexamining Amazon’s adventures in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Legendarium. The first season of The Rings of Power was a moral muddle, but the story was strongest when...
Too Large for One Life: On Friction and Sustaining Tradition
There’s a tremendous gap between making an argument for tradition and inviting someone into a living tradition. In his Compact essay, “Why Conservatism Failed,” Jon Askonas argues that conservatives have retreated prematurely to the world of ideas and abandoned the...
How to Value Caring Work
Immediately before Jesus institutes the sacrament of the Eucharist at the Last Supper, he kneels before his disciples to wash their feet. Peter objects to being served by his Lord, finding it improper, but Jesus tells him that, “Unless I...
The Promise and the Failure of WandaVision
This article references plot points from the full run of Wandavision. Superhero films are mass-casualty events. As the Marvel Cinematic Universe has grown, it’s success has won it a little more space to consider the griefs and resentments of the...
A Game About Grace and Weakness
J.R.R. Tolkien’s stories began as gifts to his children, with the adventures of Bilbo told at bedtime. My husband, Alexi, and I have tried to follow in his footsteps, albeit in a different genre. We co-wrote a role-playing game, Back...
Keeping Vaclav Benda’s Door Open
I don’t think there’s anyone better to explain to Rod Dreher where he went wrong in his recent posts about the death of George Floyd than Rod Dreher. When I wrote to him (Update #8 in that linked post), I...