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This Land Is Ron’s Land (By Dan Hahn)
Editor’s Note: Resident Philistine rap expert Dan Hahn returns with a look at Tulsa artist Ron Ron, and offers a plea for the local in music. Tulsa, Oklahoma sits tucked in the foothills of the Ozarks,...
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My Top Ten Films of 2013: An Annotated Ballot
On New Year’s Day I suggest you mosey on over to Next Projection for a wonderfully full lineup of 2013 film awards. Yours truly participated in the voting, but I wanted to go the extra mile and...
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Top Ten Songs of 2013
Once again friend of the Philistine Dan Hahn is back, this time to give us a rundown of his favorite songs of 2013. There’s lots of goodness to digest here, so please enjoy responsibly – Asher A...
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Cultural Veggies – Or How Not to Be a Philistine
“It’s certain there is no fine thing/Since Adam’s fall but needs much labouring.” – W.B. Yeats Last night the orchestra I play with did a concert of opera standards with tenor and soprano soloists and...
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The Absolutely Definitive List of the 10 Greatest Violin Concertos of All Time
As a proud lifelong cellist, I have an embarrassing confession to make: I really love violin concertos. Growing up with an older sister who played the violin, I would never admit just how much I liked...
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In Defense of Lent
Today is Ash Wednesday. I had every intention of getting up this morning and attending the Ash Wednesday service at my church – until the middle of last night, that is, when I started shaking with...
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The Night of the Megapastor
“It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.” – Luke 17:2 After years of meaning to get around to...
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Girl at the End of the World Review, by Leslie Gelzer-Govatos
I’ve had a lot of different people write for The Erstwhile Philistine over the years, but this is the first time my wife Leslie has ever volunteered anything. When she approached me with the idea, I...
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The Where the Wild Things Are Effect: Why You Want Children’s Movies to Lie...
Sometime Philistine contributor Luke T. Harrington is back with this deliciously contrarian take on kid’s movies. I’m sure you will enjoy it as much as I did. –Asher I have this theory that the only...
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Classical Music in the Disposable Age
This past Saturday I played my last concert with the community orchestra I’ve been a part of for six years here in Tulsa. In fitting fashion I went out on a high note, playing Mahler’s 2nd Symphony,...
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A Christian Defense of Natural Religion
As my title states, I want to attempt here a Christian defense of “natural religion” – or at least the beginnings of an attempt at a defense, since one that treats the subject completely and with...
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Fish in a Barrel: “My Happy Ending” by Avril Lavigne
Sometimes I get so caught up in thinking about serious things that I forget to step back and have a little fun. So I’ve instituted Fish in a Barrel to help me keep my sanity. The feature is designed...
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Should Scientists Be Public Intellectuals?
Regular readers of The Erstwhile Philistine know that one of the themes I keep coming back to, like a dog worrying a bone, is the question of knowledge in the public square. Do we have thinkers and...
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A Short Post About Mother’s Day (From a Motherless Son)
My mother, sporting a wicked ‘do, with the rest of us in tow. Every Mother’s Day I have the chance to reflect on the women who have had an impact on my life in one way or another. Losing your mother at...
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Who Should Our Public Intellectuals Be?
This is a continuation of a post I made last week titled, Should Scientists Be Public Intellectuals? I got a fair amount of feedback on that post, and I’m afraid I may have ruffled a few feathers,...
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My Speech to the Graduates
Last night I had the privilege of giving the commencement address at my school’s graduation. As I am leaving to start my graduate studies, it was an emotional and profound opportunity for me. And hey,...
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We Are All Marxists
Yesterday, as I tried to keep three or four different Twitter controversies de jour straight, a random thought entered my mind: we are all Marxists. Allow me to explain, especially to those for whom...
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Is George R.R. Martin’s Moral Vision Really More Complex Than Tolkien’s?
I went on a tiny Twitter rant the other day. It was prompted by this article on The A.V. Club. Otherwise a decent article, it is marred by a passing reference by one of the writers to a common...
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Redeeming Patriotism, Herodotus Style
Yesterday was the day after my birthday. To those less in the know, this is commonly referred to as “The Fourth of July”. Per usual, my eyes were treated to a barrage of tweets and status updates...
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Some Reasons to Read Middlemarch
As I prepare to enter a PhD program in the fall, at which point presumably I won’t have much leisure time for reading what I want when I want it, I’ve decided to dedicate my summer to checking off some...
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