The To-Read Pile 8
The To-Read Pile is my regular digest of worthwhile governing- and culture-related essays, articles, and books (with some light commentary added). Happy reading.
Assorted Non-Governing Stuff
I love the podcast “In Our Time,” a BBC production that has hour-long, low-voltage, high-smarts explorations of the most fascinating historical and scientific topics. Its long-time host is leaving.
I know next to nothing about high-school debate. It just wasn’t my thing. So this piece was jaw-dropping for me. I want to believe it’s a spoof (e.g., “kritiks”); some kind of sophisticated satire that I don’t get. But if it’s true? My oh my.
Thought-provoking advice from Pope Leo XIV on how a public official should think about the relationship between his/her faith and his/her public duties (“Christianity cannot be reduced to a simple private devotion, because it implies a way of living in society…”).
Rolling Stone and Variety on the Oasis reunion tour. But my question is why do they play the same setlist every night. Really??
You might only know Garry Kasparov from his pro-democracy, anti-Putin advocacy. If so, and you wonder about his smarts, watch this video of his explaining the end of one of his biggest wins. The speed and power of calculation is astonishing.
Excellent essay by Kay Hymowitz on the wave of pro-divorce literature aimed at middle-aged women.
I just finished Infinte Jest, and it is absolutely dreadful. I’ll have more to say about this later, but the lesson for now is to never believe the hype. If you simply ignore the campaign that pushed it and the critics who praised it, you’ll reach the same conclusion.
Assorted Governing Stuff
Outstanding essay in The Dispatch by Emmet Rensin about the horrific murder in Charlotte and the nation’s generations-long struggle to create suitable policies and practices related to the severely mentally ill.
Good review of Howard Husock’s book on public housing by Alan Ehrenhalt.
Terrific piece in National Review by Abigail Anthony on what young Hungarians think of Viktor Orban (the stuff about immigration and culture is key).
If you are interested in why the right’s turn to industrial policy is unwise, you should read this accessible but thorough Cato report from Lincicome and Zhu. It’s terrific.
President Trump continues his push for troops in high-crime cities: see in Memphis, Chicago, and Portland (and now a lawsuit)
Interesting changes to the already interesting Opportunity Zones program, in Governing by Steve Glickman.
Education
Students at Texas A&M take the lead in enforcing Trump’s gender-ideology policy.
Inside Higher Education still doesn’t understand conservatives’ decades-long frustration with the political imbalance on campuses. I appreciate that IHE appears to be trying, but this still reads like someone who’s never played chess writing about chess.
In the WSJ, Jeff Selingo writes of the “Elite College Myth,” echoing the findings of my two recent studies on the relationship between prestigious job opportunities and education.
The most important urban school reform effort of the last half century turns 20 years old this year. Read this good, long take by Beth Hawkins in The 74 on what to make of the rebuilding of NOLA schools post-Katrina.
At elite private schools, you don’t go to class, don’t prioritize schoolwork, get an A in every class, and still have grade anxiety?
The president of the Idaho Board of Education (which governs both K-12 and higher ed), Kurt Liebich, explains why his state’s schools are focusing on civics and Western civilization.
Important new academic paper from Volden, Wai, and Wiseman on how the diverging rates of elite education among Republican and Democratic leaders. The findings dovetail with my recent article on Souterism and Rehnquistism.
Virginia toughening K-12 learning standards. Good for the Commonwealth—fighting against one of the four current crises in education. On the other hand, it looks like Kansas is doing the opposite, per the Kansas Policy Institute.
Law and Courts
Excellent critical take (in The Dispatch by Timothy Sandefur) on Akhil Reed Amar’s new book on the Constitution. This is a masterclass on how to pen a tough review. Read the work carefully, demonstrate knowledge of the field and the author’s oeuvre, be complimentary as warranted, level measured criticisms with evidence.
Outstanding essay in The Free Press by the great Joel Klein on what he learned from the awful behavior of a judge he had admired and the decency of a justice he had doubted.
As I’ve written, I think we need to revive—actually, breathe first life into—the “guarantee clause.” In my view, it should be understood to protect states against all three branches of the federal government. Along those lines, I recently found and appreciated these two old journal articles by Prof. Deborah Jones Merritt.
Did ending affirmative action incentivize college applicants to write essays built on a “racial trauma narrative”? Yes, says law prof Justin Driver in the NYT.
Could the Court overturn Obergefell and return SSM to the states? In Politico, Kimberly Wehle says it might.
I recently re-read CJ Rehnquist’s 1976 article, “The Notion of a Living Constitution,” and it blew me away all over again. It’s an outstanding defense of republicanism as judicial philosophy. There’s even a part that reads to me as an argument against using natural law in constitutional interpretation, which makes me like it even more.
If you like Rehnquist’s take on the Constitution and democracy, check out my recent piece on originalism, Justice Scalia’s 1997 book A Matter of Interpretation, and Justice Barrett’s 2017 article on originalism and stare decisis.
WSJ ed board asks the central question of the upcoming SCOTUS term: Are independent agencies an historical error?
State Policy
The complexities of Virginia's attempt to minutely track elements of the medical marijuana industry. A variety of marijuana-related legal developments in MO, TX, and MN. And what is "kratom" and why are some states (and Uncle Sam?) banning it?
Is it possible to criminalize "grooming," action that isn't criminal unless something happens later?
State policymakers aim to address pharmacy troubles, especially in rural areas.
Can states ban individuals from simultaneously receiving unemployment and disability benefits?
New Mexico creates universal childcare. But what about families with kids who don't want to pay for childcare?
Interesting data on how state legislatures are governing more effectively than Congress.
A proposal to change the state legislative process in OK.
In Arkansas, National Guard to assist ICE with logistics related to detention and deportation.
I believe in general deference to legislatures. I think public safety is the heart of state-level “police powers.” So I’m generally sympathetic to narrow gun-control measures. “Yellow flag” laws are interesting, as is this argument in Maine about a “red flag“ law. Illinois has a different approach to “narrow,” attempting to regulate guns disproportionately involved in injurious events.
In Missouri a powerful committee chair loses his post for bucking the party leadership on the rules of debate.
Don’t let Congressional anemia worry you. State legislatures are more active and fruitful. Speaking of which, check out this guide to all of the proposed constitutional amendments in Texas this year, via the Texas Public Policy Foundation.