Free Expression (Newsletter)

By Ben Sasse Aaron Finch practices in Humble, Texas, on Sept. 7, 2017.Photo: Matt Rourke/Associated Press Fall is here, football is back, and America’s boys need to play it and be shaped by it. As the son of a football coach, I’m admittedly biased. As a dad who has spent the past month driving a high-school freshman to two-a-day, often 100-degree practices, I’m deliriously invested.

Photo: Narendra Shrstha/EPA/Shutterstock Today in Free Expression: Columnist Matthew Continetti saysHakeem Jeffries is no Nancy Pelosi; Columnist Ben Sasse praises football for boys; Masada Siegel laments growing antisemitism in Ireland; And Meghan Cox Gurdon’s video report on Michelle Obama and motherhood. —Matthew Hennessey I’m not a scientist. Does global warming typically cause bedrock to collapse?

By Masada Siegel An Israeli flag outside the embassy of Israel in Dublin on Dec. 16, 2024. Photo: conor humphries/Reuters On a flight from Queenstown, New Zealand, to Sydney in July, I sat next to Niall, an Irishman who had lived in Australia for 15 years and was considering moving home. I’ve never met an Irish person I didn’t connect with, and Niall was no exception. Somewhere over the Tasman Sea, our conversation turned to Ireland’s relationship with the Jewish people.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in Washington on May 13.Photo: Andrew Thomas/CNP/ZUMA Press Hakeem Jeffries had a plan. The House Democratic leader assumed his caucus would vote unanimously Tuesday against a Republican effort to bring several bills to the House floor, thereby plunging the GOP conference into chaos. Then Democrats could sit back and enjoy as Speaker Mike Johnson played defense ahead of Labor Day. But the joke was on Mr. Jeffries. Reps.

Photo: Joe Maher/Getty Images Today in Free Expression: Columnist James B. Meigsurges us to be careful what we read online; Christopher de Vinck recalls his correspondence with the late Wendell Berry; Emma Camp recounts a gloriously trashy day at Coney Island; And columnist Kyle Smith takes to video to take on the DSA. —Matthew Hennessey Karen Attiah, meet Gerard McCarthy.

By Christopher de Vinck Wendell Berry in Frankfort, Ky., Feb. 14, 2011. Photo: The Independent/John Flavell/Associated Press I read the poetry of Wendell Berry for the first time in April 1971. I was 20 and stumbled onto his slim volume, “Farming: A Hand Book.” These words struck me: “I owned a slope of stones.

People enjoy the beach along the Coney Island boardwalk in New York, New York, USA, 07 August 2026. Photo: Olga Fedorova/EPA/Shutterstock I was trying to read—so was my husband and the friend who came to the beach with us. While my two companions seemed able to concentrate on their books, I found myself scanning the same sentence over and over. Something was distracting me.

By James B. Meigs Photo: Jenny Kane/Associated Press In our digital age, it has never been easier to get information. In a click I can find the height of Annapurna or the weight of an A350 jet. But how do we know if the information we find is true? In some ways, that’s getting harder. Digital technology lowers barriers, allowing facts, opinions and ideas to flow around the world like never before.

Photo: Sarah Rice/Bloomberg News Today in Free Expression: Columnist Louise Perry warns against looking at ourselves too much; Edward Conlon praises the NYPD’s handling of a stabbing in Times Square; D.G. Hartargues that Independence Hall is America’s essential building; And Matthew Hennessey clears the waters China is muddying about the flood in Nepal. —Jack Butler Pipe down, equinox purists: Summer is ending. Football is back. Pumpkin spice is here.

By Edward Conlon Knives recovered at the scene of a fatal stabbing and police-involved shooting in New York on Aug. 31. Photo: Kyle Mazza-Unf News Via Cnp/Kyle Mazza-Unf News/Cnp/ZUMA Press Weeks after 11 Israeli athletes were murdered at the Munich Olympics in September 1972, the New York Police Department began laying the groundwork for what would become the world’s first hostage negotiations team. No police agency anywhere had a formal policy or plan in dealing with hostage situations.