Years ago, in an Austin bookstore, I heard Yann Martel, the author of the Life of Pi, give a talk—he said that he mailed a novel to his Prime Minister every year. Why, we might wonder, do such a ludicrous thing? He probably did so under…

The health crisis of 2020 revealed problems in education in a way no one could have predicted. When students were required to learn from home, parents witnessed what was being taught—or not being taught—at government schools. My friends would lament that their children only spent…

An education in the liberal arts is one that teaches students to love what is true, good, and beautiful. It frees the soul and makes those who have received it want to pass that freedom on to others. The liberal arts free the soul not…

I always thought the Shire was better than the Ring of Power. To love The Lord of the Rings, one must desire the simple life of ordinary things, of anonymity, of local community, of what can still sometimes be found in rural, small-town America. When Frodo…

How (and how not) to be certain of yourself. When I was a little girl, my favourite book was Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. As much as I disliked cats, the Cheshire Cat defied all expectations with his wisdom. Alice is lost in the woods,…

When I was rereading Homer’s The Odyssey, I noticed a curious fault in the hero—Odysseus falls asleep at the most inopportune times. At the start of his adventures, he dozes off when the ships are in sight of Ithaca, the pilgrim’s destination. Hoping that by overexerting…