B.D. McClay

About

B.D. McClay is senior editor of The Hedgehog Review.

Thinking About the Poor

from Thinking About the Poor, Volume 16, Number 3

Democracy Labs

from Thinking About the Poor, Volume 16, Number 3

Are We There Yet?

from The Body in Question, Volume 17, Number 2

Simply Seeing

from The Cultural Contradictions of Modern Science, Volume 18, Number 3

What’s Love Got to Do with It?

from Meritocracy and its Discontents, Volume 18, Number 2

Monumental Woes

from The End of the End of History?, Volume 19, Number 3

Hypocrite

from The Post-Modern Self, Volume 19, Number 1

Insincere virtue may be preferable to sincere vice, but only by a hair.

Something More Than Clever

from The Meaning of Cities, Volume 19, Number 2

Most people involved with the issues of sexual assault and harassment—both victim’s advocates and advocates for the accused—believe that the present Title IX system needs reform.

The Life You Take Won’t Be Your Own

from The Evening of Life, Volume 20, Number 3

Property and ownership themselves are strange concepts to apply to this question, since the statement that our lives aren’t really our own has implications beyond suicide.

We’re Here, That’s All

from The Human and the Digital, Volume 20, Number 1

Virtue Signaling

from Identities—What Are They Good For?, Volume 20, Number 2

To what extent is “virtue signaling” a useful, or at least meaningful, phrase?

The Ills That Flesh Is Heir to

from Animals and Us, Volume 21, Number 1

What if our weakness were the best part of us?

Recognizing the Adult in the Mirror

In art as in life, the real adults are often hard to recognize.

"What is Liberal Education For?": A Preview

One difficulty faced by people talking about higher education—or marketing institutions of higher education—is that the purpose of education is now widely considered to be job training, and on that level, it doesn't appear to be succeeding particularly well

“What is Liberal Education For?”: A Conference Postmortem

The liberal education conference has now come and gone. My own panel went well, though I think I left with the same question I had going in, namely: Are there any truthful instrumental arguments to be made for liberal education?

Some Not-So-Scary Stories for Halloween

Looking for some stories for Halloween? Start here.

Prejudice and Place

If by “prejudice” Sandel means “subjective understanding,” then I’m not entirely sure it needs defending.

Feeding the Homeless, and Other Crimes

Erasing every ugly reality from view might make life a little more pleasant for the currently fortunate, but it makes for irresponsible governance and cold-hearted citizens.

Self-Immolation, In Theory and In Practice

The self-immolator does not seek merely to die, but to die horribly, in such a way that others will be compelled to take notice.

Miss Manners and Mr. Manspreader

“To some,” said Richard Duffy in 1922, “the very word etiquette is an irritant.” It still is. Exhibit A: “manspreading.”

Mirror, Mirror

For now, the television show that really will hold up the mirror to our technological lives probably has yet to air.

Where Moth and Rust Doth Corrupt

The Internet never forgets? Maybe. It's more likely that, in a few years, you won't be able to read this blog post at all.

What We Talk About When We Talk About What We Talk About When We Talk

Click on this.

An Interview With Alan Jacobs

Humility, laziness, true confessions, and The Karate Kid—an interview with Alan Jacobs on his 79 Theses for Disputation.

Tipping Points

Why can’t we let go of tipping?

With Friends Like These

Stop me if you think you've heard this one before.

The Critical Fate of the Major Novel

Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; even smaller minds complain about the rest of these people.

Sluttery and Shakespeare

A translation of English to English presumes that ambiguity of language is always a flaw—but it’s not.

Things to Do Instead of Watching the Debate Tomorrow

Read this blog post many times until the evening has somehow slipped away.

The Hedgehog’s Array: April 8, 2016

Noteworthy reads from the last week.

Two Cultures, At Least

The world of higher education may still be ruled by culture war. But it’s not about the canon.

Monumental Woes

It’s time to face up to what Confederate monuments mean.

The Art of the Possible

A zero sum reality, in which every win is someone else’s loss, exists in a constant state of crisis.