In his Society without God (NYU Press, 2008), sociologist Phil Zuckerman documented the many ways in which the Scandinavian countries--some of the least religious on earth--put highly religious countries, and particularly the United States, to shame with respect to positive social outcomes. It's a good read, and, while
Thoughts on Political Violence and the Death of American Civil Society Update: Shortly after the publication of this essay, Disney reinstated Jimmy Kimmel (presumably as a result of calculus over the loss of Disney+ streaming subscriptions). This is a victory, though not a massive one. The legacy media are still
Administrative Matters Hello, fellow bugbears! It has been a painful process—and the financial blow remains painful, and will for some time—but the migration of ye olde Bugbear Dispatch from Substack to Ghost is more or less complete! It will still take me some time to master the Ghost
Hello, fellow bugbears! I'm in the process of migrating everything from Substack to Ghost. If you received The Bugbear Dispatch via email before, you should be getting it now. I'll check in with some of you to make sure that's happening. Meanwhile, my old
The Bugbear Dispatch is, as of today, two years old! I want to thank all of you who have been with me for some or all of that time, and I hope the newsletter will have a bright future. One thing I’m announcing today is that the future of
Part II: Why Some Approaches to Spirituality Are a Bridge Too Far
Part I: Gods that Fail and the Seductive Nature of the Forbidden
Happy(?) Birthday to Me
Your friendly neighborhood bugbear is back and thinking about Eastern Europe and American extremism
On celebrating ourselves despite petty Pride-month attacks from our fascist government
The United States is growing increasingly similar to Russia, but some of the similarities have been there for a long time
Newsletter
What are your coping strategies? How can we support each other?
Newsletter
Newsletter
A brief history of the last eleven years and their devastating impact on trans Americans
Newsletter
Part II: The Religious Power Grab
Newsletter
Part I: Rationalizing the Path of Least Resistance
Newsletter
If you have to choose between Elon Musk and evangelical missions alleviating disease and poverty, you hold your nose and choose the evangelicals
Newsletter
Part II: Nostalgia in Microcosm and Some Personal Reflections on Nostalgia as a Transgender American
Newsletter
Part I: Nostalgia and American Fascism
Newsletter
Plus, Bugbear Dispatch Updates and Bonus Content for Paid Subscribers
Newsletter
Newsletter
The answer, I fear, might have to do with porcine wings and an extreme cold snap in a very hot place
Newsletter
How red states pioneered the authoritarian mechanisms now going national