The Combined Power of Storytelling, Logic and Irreverence: Reading Caitlin Johnstone & Nathan J. Robinson

I‘m not going to offer a big essay today, but what I will say is that where much of the country is either politically unengaged (a cultural issue that goes all the way back to Alexis de Tocqueville’s observations about our populace hundreds of years ago), too strapped to pay attention, or consumed with attending one or both of our various political theaters — the latest spectaculars being the impeachment hearings and the Democratic presidential primaries — it can be a good thing to step outside the hubbub to think about more foundational issues that we’re not usually encouraged to question.

We have some insightful writers available who are quite good at helping us do just that, and I chose to focus on reading their work for this week’s Words of Others podcast.

On one end, we have Caitlin Johnstone, our global resident polymath of political writing who can be found creating investigative journalism one minute, a personal spiritual essay two minutes later, and hours on a politically relevant poem that says even more than what she wrote earlier.

Additionally, we have the legal scholar, historically minded, philosophically and rhetorically inclined editor and journalist Nathan J. Robinson of Current Affairs magazine. I pair these two thinkers this week because they both have a knack for kicking aside taboos without snark or nastiness — and helping us think about things in a different way.

To me, the following essays are like chocolate chip cookies that are good for you.

So, my suggestion is…go ahead and indulge:

If you’d rather read than listen, here is Caitlin’s essay.

And here is Nathan’s essay.

Enjoy yourself and feel free to share the podcast with others. Hit me in the comments section with requests for readings by other writers you’d like to hear read aloud.

As always, thanks for reading and listening.