Columnists blog

Irving Kristol and the Liberals Who Followed the Evidence Rightward A one-time Trotskyist founded The Public Interest in 1965 and led intellectuals who watched Great Society programs fail. His record and his critics. May 8, 2026 Six Myths About Ayn Rand and Her Uneasy Place in the Conservative Movement Rand is called the movement's philosopher, yet she rejected its religion and called herself no conservative. Six claims tested against her record. Apr 24, 2026 Buckley Policed the Fringe, and the Right Grew Stronger for It In the early 1960s William F. Buckley Jr. drew lines against the John Birch Society's leadership and Ayn Rand's circle, and the movement was better for it. Mar 2, 2026 Frank Meyer, the Ex-Communist Who Married Liberty to Virtue Frank Meyer left the Communist Party, joined National Review and argued that virtue must be chosen freely to count, a bargain still shaping the right. Feb 25, 2026 The 1953 Book That Told Americans They Already Had a Conservative Tradition Russell Kirk's The Conservative Mind gave American conservatism a family tree from Burke to Eliot, and it changed what the movement believed it was. Feb 21, 2026 Sowell's Two Visions Explain Why Smart People Talk Past Each Other A Conflict of Visions argues political quarrels rest on unspoken assumptions about human nature; naming them turns shouting matches into arguments. Feb 11, 2026 Before Cable There Was Human Events, and Before That Almost Nothing Conservative media began as a few small newsletters and magazines that kept ideas alive while the big outlets looked away, and the line runs to today. Jan 13, 2026 Fabricated From the Byline Up, Four Scandals That Shamed Elite Newsrooms Four celebrated reporters invented people and scenes while editors trusted a good story over a check. What Cooke, Glass, Blair and Kelley teach readers. Nov 16, 2025