George Monbiot: Fowl Deeds
The astonishing, multiple crises caused by chicken farming. It’s the insouciance that baffles me. To participate in the killing of an animal: this is a significant decision. It spreads like … Continue reading
David R. Loy: Healing Ecology
What Can Buddhism contribute to our understanding of the Ecological Crisis? As a complex religious tradition, or group of traditions, Buddhism has a lot to say about the natural world. … Continue reading
Chris Hedges: The Pathology of the Rich White Family in America
The pathology of the rich white family is the most dangerous pathology in America. The rich white family is cursed with too much money and privilege. It is devoid of … Continue reading
Doug Anderson: What is Poetry For?
I’ve been thinking about all the conversations about whether or not poetry “matters” in this culture and thinking maybe it’s a silly question. We have a country on the verge … Continue reading
Sharon Doubiago: I Am My Brother’s Keeper
[ed. note: This is the preface to The Visit by Sharon Doubiago, published by Wild Ocean Press] Jack Retasket is a Native American/Canadian Shuswap-Lillooet (Statlmx) survivor of Kamloops Indian Residential … Continue reading
W.J. Astore: Major Sporting Events and Air Shows — Too Corporatized, Too Controlling, Too Much
Been to a major American sporting event lately? If not, consider yourself fortunate. The NFL and NASCAR are already over-the-top when it comes to manufactured noise, exaggerated pyrotechnics, and wall-to-wall … Continue reading
Laura Gottesdiener: A Foreclosure Conveyor Belt
The Continuing Depopulation of Detroit Unlike so many industrial innovations, the revolving door was not developed in Detroit. It took its first spin in Philadelphia in 1888, the brainchild of … Continue reading
Doug Anderson: Surrender, Panic, and Control
When I was living in Texas in the 70s, I read a book on lucid dreaming that offered a technology of participating in my dreams. I had always been a … Continue reading
Patricia A. Nugent: The Hand of the Poet
“I have a problem. I know you can’t help me, but I want to tell you anyway.” She approaches me after the first class of a four-week writing course … Continue reading
Adrian Blevins: Nouns in their Habitats
New Pilgrims at Tinker Creek: I read Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek for the first time when I was about fourteen years old. I don’t remember now what I … Continue reading
Video: This Machine Kills Hate — Healing America through art
Roberto Lugo says of the potter’s art: “I have a dream where I can change the world by making pots, showing others how to make pots, and by bringing those … Continue reading
Jose Padua: A Brief Meditation on the Days as They Rise
The other night my wife and I were talking about the murder of Walter Scott when our eleven year old daughter asked, “Why?” And she looked at my wife and … Continue reading
Adrian Blevins: Portrait of my X
I met him nearly twenty years ago in an early morning college yard and in all this time he has changed very little. Nothing about being alive exasperates me more … Continue reading
Paul Christensen: The Dark Side of Prose
I’ve been thinking about newspapers lately, and their most recent avatar, TV news, both the network and the cable kind. What intrigues me most about this use of prose is … Continue reading →