Category Archives: CiRCE Links

“Perhaps my objection to “teaching to your top third” is most clearly expressed in my objection to the idea a pastor should “preach to his top third.” I’ve never heard anyone put forward that idea before, of course, but I imagine most pastors would scoff if they heard it. “Preach to your top third? WhatContinue reading “Against “Teaching To Your Top Third””

“The Veritas awards ceremony is only one hour long, students dress in their formal uniforms, and it is the very last thing which happens in the school year. When I say “the very last thing,” I mean the academic dean prays at the end of the awards ceremony and then says, “Alright, have a greatContinue reading “A Proper Awards Ceremony”

If you’d like to listen to a sprawling interview I did with Thomas Magbee of Classical Stuff You Should Know about Love What Lasts, it’s available now. This interview was all kinds of fun to do and I’m grateful for Thomas, who has always been generous when reviewing my work.

“Teacher: Discipline should be painful. By its very nature, discipline is painful. If it’s not painful, it’s not discipline. Dean: But who should discipline be painful for? We could have kicked Elliot off the soccer team, but that would have been painful for the team. I don’t see what good it does to punish theContinue reading “Athletic Immunity From Prosecution”

I was a guest on this week’s episode of Tsh Oxenreider’s A Drink With A Friend. We discussed Love What Lasts, which is arriving in mailboxes this week. It was a very fine conversation. Have a listen here.

“Graduates, I’d like to let you in on a little secret. If you had attended half as many graduation ceremonies as I have, you would not be excited for the speech I’m about to give. There’s no kind of speech in all the world so full of cliches and platitudes as a commencement address. SomeContinue reading “Be Afraid Of Failure”

“Given ChatGPT’s sudden, unforeseeable intrusion into our lives several months ago, teachers and administrators across the country have spent the latter half of the school year playing catch-up—and, from most accounts I’ve heard, they have been roundly defeated. We now have the summer to sort out what policies we’re going to put in place nextContinue reading “ChatGPT Is A Godsend”

“Tom: Have you read Mark’s takedown of Sam’s latest article? Harry: No. Tom: Have you read Sam’s latest article? Harry: No. Tom: Okay, you should read Sam’s latest article so you can read Mark’s takedown. Harry: Okay. Tom: Actually, Sam’s latest article is a response to Reggie’s latest article, so you should read Reggie’s first.Continue reading “When Mid-Level Intellectuals Play King Of The Hill For Web Traffic Glory”

True story, I enjoyed recording this episode so much that I recorded it twice, and the second version is ten minutes longer than the first. There will likely be a corresponding post on the CiRCE blog about this proverb in the next couple weeks. The subject of the episode? Stupidity. More specifically, the word “stupid”Continue reading “Episode 120: A Very Special Episode Of Proverbial”