Richard A Bailey
@richardabailey.bsky.social
Historian. Professor. Author, “Race and Redemption in Puritan New England” (OUP, 2011). northern AL in western NY. Fly fisher. Personal account. Thus, opinions = mine.
http://richardabailey.com
https://linktr.ee/richardabailey
http://richardabailey.com
https://linktr.ee/richardabailey
Lots of thanks to Michael Oberg for sharing this thoughtful essay—especially at a time when so many of our respective institutions, their leaders, and trustees need to figure out what we are and maybe what we want to be. If we want to continue to be, that is.
thepointmag.com/examined-lif...
thepointmag.com/examined-lif...
The Left Case for Great Books | The Point Magazine
A great-books model at the undergraduate level is, in fact, so consonant with Freire’s radical critique that it represents a far better path forward for a left-wing vision of education than virtually ...
thepointmag.com
February 8, 2026 at 12:29 PM
Lots of thanks to Michael Oberg for sharing this thoughtful essay—especially at a time when so many of our respective institutions, their leaders, and trustees need to figure out what we are and maybe what we want to be. If we want to continue to be, that is.
thepointmag.com/examined-lif...
thepointmag.com/examined-lif...
“There may be plenty of good reasons to despair over the present. The…classroom should not be one of them.”
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/02/youth-reading-books-professors/685825/?gift=aa4zxkB8ECuOApt3s7wYp3kWOvOOL4Pbe4PT4EAvzO4
www.theatlantic.com
February 6, 2026 at 10:11 PM
“There may be plenty of good reasons to despair over the present. The…classroom should not be one of them.”
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Please join us!
February 6, 2026 at 9:18 PM
Please join us!
Thr original name certainly rolls off my tongue often (and more naturally tbh). So, I definitely understand. And I sure hope your alumni friends will join us.
February 6, 2026 at 9:18 PM
Thr original name certainly rolls off my tongue often (and more naturally tbh). So, I definitely understand. And I sure hope your alumni friends will join us.
Alright, friends, it’s time! Make plans now to join us on March 26 in the Montante Cultural Center at Canisius University for this year’s installment of the Fitzpatrick Lecture Series when Tom Nichols joins us for an important and timely conversation.
I look forward to seeing you there.
I look forward to seeing you there.
February 6, 2026 at 4:50 PM
Alright, friends, it’s time! Make plans now to join us on March 26 in the Montante Cultural Center at Canisius University for this year’s installment of the Fitzpatrick Lecture Series when Tom Nichols joins us for an important and timely conversation.
I look forward to seeing you there.
I look forward to seeing you there.
As I approach two years since dad’s death, I return again to Wendell Berry’s “Fidelity,” the short story I read a few days before he died and a year ago (and likely every year to come). If you haven’t read it, by the book of that title. Every story in it is good. And this one is, well, transcendent.
February 4, 2026 at 9:44 PM
As I approach two years since dad’s death, I return again to Wendell Berry’s “Fidelity,” the short story I read a few days before he died and a year ago (and likely every year to come). If you haven’t read it, by the book of that title. Every story in it is good. And this one is, well, transcendent.
While the essay’s title (naming fascism) doesn’t completely align with its argument (naming a fascist), there is much to consider in this thinking toward a definition.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Yes, It’s Fascism
Until recently, I thought it a term best avoided. But now, the resemblances are too many and too strong to deny.
www.theatlantic.com
January 26, 2026 at 12:19 PM
While the essay’s title (naming fascism) doesn’t completely align with its argument (naming a fascist), there is much to consider in this thinking toward a definition.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
“Americans who support liberal democracy need to recognize what we’re dealing with in order to cope with it, and to recognize something, one must name it.”
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Yes, It’s Fascism
Until recently, I thought it a term best avoided. But now, the resemblances are too many and too strong to deny.
www.theatlantic.com
January 26, 2026 at 12:19 PM
“Americans who support liberal democracy need to recognize what we’re dealing with in order to cope with it, and to recognize something, one must name it.”
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Meeting up with a meat and three on Meeting Street.
January 23, 2026 at 4:42 PM
Meeting up with a meat and three on Meeting Street.
Nothing to see here. Literally nothing.
While this move isn’t the worst or stupidest thing we’ve seen (or not seen) in the last year or so, it sure is bad and stupid. At least in the opinion of this historian or race and slavery in America.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/u...
While this move isn’t the worst or stupidest thing we’ve seen (or not seen) in the last year or so, it sure is bad and stupid. At least in the opinion of this historian or race and slavery in America.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/u...
National Park Service Dismantles Slavery Exhibit in Philadelphia
www.nytimes.com
January 23, 2026 at 11:36 AM
Nothing to see here. Literally nothing.
While this move isn’t the worst or stupidest thing we’ve seen (or not seen) in the last year or so, it sure is bad and stupid. At least in the opinion of this historian or race and slavery in America.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/u...
While this move isn’t the worst or stupidest thing we’ve seen (or not seen) in the last year or so, it sure is bad and stupid. At least in the opinion of this historian or race and slavery in America.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/u...
Char ‘em if you got ‘em. Or not.
January 22, 2026 at 8:05 PM
Char ‘em if you got ‘em. Or not.
Sometimes you gotta check out super cool places. Marsh Hen Mill is such a place. I was blown away seeing their work today. I’ve been enjoying the labors of these folks for years. Now, I’m even more in awe of those labors.
January 21, 2026 at 11:51 PM
Sometimes you gotta check out super cool places. Marsh Hen Mill is such a place. I was blown away seeing their work today. I’ve been enjoying the labors of these folks for years. Now, I’m even more in awe of those labors.
Another flight. Another Benjamin. This time the essay that prompted the title of last flight’s book.
January 21, 2026 at 1:32 PM
Another flight. Another Benjamin. This time the essay that prompted the title of last flight’s book.
More exploring what one can do with stories
January 21, 2026 at 10:43 AM
More exploring what one can do with stories
Gipe shared the first one with a lot of us a month and a half or so ago when I spent a weekend with lots of good folks celebrating the life and legacy of Gurney Norman. In the second one, Hubert offers his own unique reminder that I ought to be writing and not fiddle-farting around.
January 21, 2026 at 10:42 AM
Gipe shared the first one with a lot of us a month and a half or so ago when I spent a weekend with lots of good folks celebrating the life and legacy of Gurney Norman. In the second one, Hubert offers his own unique reminder that I ought to be writing and not fiddle-farting around.
While it might take another few days before I get those new beauties situated in my office (and I’ll share them there too), I’m so very glad to have these two Robert Gipe pieces.
January 21, 2026 at 10:42 AM
While it might take another few days before I get those new beauties situated in my office (and I’ll share them there too), I’m so very glad to have these two Robert Gipe pieces.
Feel free to use whatever gymnastics you like to explain these comments. But while doing so and telling everyone who will listen about your black friends, please know that they are gymnastics and what we should simply say is that such thinking and talking is wrong.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/u...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/u...
Trump Says Civil Rights Led to White People Being ‘Very Badly Treated’
www.nytimes.com
January 12, 2026 at 9:22 PM
Feel free to use whatever gymnastics you like to explain these comments. But while doing so and telling everyone who will listen about your black friends, please know that they are gymnastics and what we should simply say is that such thinking and talking is wrong.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/u...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/u...
A little Hobbes this Sunday morning—without Calvin, but with a little Locke and Jefferson.
January 11, 2026 at 2:04 PM
A little Hobbes this Sunday morning—without Calvin, but with a little Locke and Jefferson.
A little Hobbes this Sunday morning—without Calvin, but with a little Locke and Jefferson.
www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/0...
https://www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/01/philosopher-who-explains-stephen-miller-thomas-hobbes/685574/?gift=aa4zxkB8ECuOApt3s7wYp0wacKzYbExN2Il21zrr1Ro
www.theatlantic.com
January 11, 2026 at 2:04 PM
A little Hobbes this Sunday morning—without Calvin, but with a little Locke and Jefferson.
www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/0...
A little Hobbes this Sunday morning—without Calvin, but with a little Locke and Jefferson.
www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/0...
https://www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/01/philosopher-who-explains-stephen-miller-thomas-hobbes/685574/?gift=aa4zxkB8ECuOApt3s7wYp0wacKzYbExN2Il21zrr1Ro
www.theatlantic.com
January 11, 2026 at 2:04 PM
A little Hobbes this Sunday morning—without Calvin, but with a little Locke and Jefferson.
www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/0...
“this effort has been absurd; there is no way to kill someone without some element of torture, either psychological, physical, or both.”
Tortured to Death in Alabama - The Atlantic
Tortured to Death in Alabama - The Atlantic
October 25, 2025 at 11:57 AM
“this effort has been absurd; there is no way to kill someone without some element of torture, either psychological, physical, or both.”
Tortured to Death in Alabama - The Atlantic
Tortured to Death in Alabama - The Atlantic
Grateful to the folks at Front Porch Republic for inviting me to share on the passing of Gurney Norman—writer, documentarian, advocate, Kentucky poet laureate, teacher, mentor, & friend.
Whether you read them, let me encourage you to read some of Gurney’s words. You’ll be better for doing so.
Whether you read them, let me encourage you to read some of Gurney’s words. You’ll be better for doing so.
Inside a Web of Love: Thoughts on Gurney Norman - Front Porch Republic
As Gurney’s family and friends wrestle with the loss of their friend, I hope they—or more accurately we—will lean into being lonely inside a web of love.
www.frontporchrepublic.com
October 16, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Grateful to the folks at Front Porch Republic for inviting me to share on the passing of Gurney Norman—writer, documentarian, advocate, Kentucky poet laureate, teacher, mentor, & friend.
Whether you read them, let me encourage you to read some of Gurney’s words. You’ll be better for doing so.
Whether you read them, let me encourage you to read some of Gurney’s words. You’ll be better for doing so.
The best way to prove universities’ value is to get countercultural again.…That means defending inefficient, human-centered learning: strange and premodern practices such as reading an old book, then writing a long essay about it.”
newrepublic.com/article/1983...
newrepublic.com/article/1983...
What Besieged Universities Can Learn From the Christian Resurgence
Educators can fight back against Trump’s attacks by re-embracing “old-fashioned” disciplines and ideas.
newrepublic.com
August 24, 2025 at 12:49 PM
The best way to prove universities’ value is to get countercultural again.…That means defending inefficient, human-centered learning: strange and premodern practices such as reading an old book, then writing a long essay about it.”
newrepublic.com/article/1983...
newrepublic.com/article/1983...