Be anxious for the fray -- news and commentary resources

Today I am sharing some resources I find myself returning to on a regular basis. If you are looking for good content, here you go.

Since people ask me what their kids can read or listen to for current events, I try to keep that request in mind as I am listening and reading. Back in the day, you could take the local and national newspapers and have your children read those. Today, the former has collapsed and the latter is simply an arm of the state (those two facts are not unrelated). 

However, since a lot of the news centers on gender ideology, it's simply not appropriate for children! What a problem... what's a parent to do? I am skeptical of so-called "neutral" news aggregator sites, as I think they end up promoting the state-approved narratives after all.

The following links might be appropriate for your high school student; you'll have to examine them yourself, because everyone has their own standards for their family (for instance, someone with generally good analysis might occasionally use salty language). 

My title on this post comes from the motto of The Federalist, a quote from Calvin Coolidge (a truly great president by the way), who said: "Be lovers of freedom and anxious for the fray." 

David Harsanyi ends each episode of the weekly podcast with Mollie Hemingway, You're Wrong, with this inspiring line.

They discuss the news, with analysis, and I always get a lot out of it. I appreciate Mollie's refusal to accept the terms set by the opposition -- she thinks clearly and insists on using her own vocabulary to characterize her opinions (e.g. "protections of the unborn" vs. "abortion bans"). She is articulate and informed, including about past events and figures. (I often worry about the current pundit class's ignorance of recent history, especially the intellectual background of conservatism in America.) I appreciate David's commitment to the rule of law. He often has insights about the larger meaning of the Left's attacks on our institutions. The two of them have a good rapport. I just wish their intro music weren't pure ugliness... why. 

The Washington Examiner is a newspaper (online) with content you won't see in the legacy media. Full disclosure: my son Joseph is an editor over there! Again, the issue is the barrage of gender ideology news, not fit for children even (or especially) to view the photos, but a teen could find current events there, perhaps with adult supervision.

Michael Knowles' podcast is one I often listen to. I agree with him most of the time. I like his mix of news and basic principles -- he will almost daily remind his listeners of fundamental truths that ought to guide our political and social thoughts and decisions, like the importance of marriage and family for flourishing, and the need to worship the true God. I just like it when people are not afraid to return to these guiding ideas often. We need the reminders.

I like the Substack of William Briggs. On Twitter he calls himself "Statistician to the Stars" to poke fun at our expert class regime, if that gives you a hint of his vibe, though he really does crunch the numbers and debunk the nonsense. He understands the relationship between science and philosophy. Today he talks about our need to take responsibility for our own defense in light of the Maine shooter incident. Do you have your Class A license to carry? I think you should get it if you can.

Our friend Dan has short and informative posts about the issues in his Substack, Corned Beef Catholicism. I think your high school student could get a good overview from his content.

The Naked Emperor has so much content, especially as relates to Covid politics and vaccine injury reporting. I can't keep up with it all, though if I'm looking for something, it's a good resource.

Victor Davis Hanson knows a lot about everything, especially military history and strategy. You can read his articles here and many other places. If you have a lot of time, you can listen to his podcast here (but he really does go on! it took me a while to get used to his monologues! that said, he really does know what he's talking about). I am looking forward to hearing what he has to say about the Speaker of the House choice, as he was expressing frustration at the removal of McCarthy and the subsequent chaos. 

Tucker Carlson had some simple points to make about our right to be concerned about preserving our society and the criteria we might consider regarding the question of foreign policy. You can follow him on Twitter for his updates.

I follow Edward Pentin on Twitter for updates from the Vatican.

And of course, my husband's site for Catholic information. Instead of following sites with no filter and lots of incendiary clickbait, go to Catholic Culture for the news and for Phil Lawler's analysis. (Click on the "news" tab for the headlines.)

Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram (politics-free over there!).

Do you have favorite resources to share? Let us know in the comments and I will try to check them out.