blogs that make you think

Richard at Philosophy, et cetera has kindly selected this page as a “blog that makes you go hmmm.” In this game, if someone tags you as a “thinking blogger,” you’re supposed to recommend some other blogs that make you think. These days, I mainly read high-traffic political blogs that don’t need any more incoming links. But here are some interesting, quirky, thought-provoking sites:

Bridging Differences is an extraordinary venue for conversation between Diane Ravitch and Deborah Meier. These are two truly distinguished thinkers about American education. They would normally be seen as representatives of opposing, even antagonistic, ideological camps. But they had a very moving exchange in EdWeek last May that demonstrated an ideal interaction between people of good will who disagree. They didn’t suppress their differences in the name of politeness, but they acknowledged the weaknesses of their own positions and the validity of the other person’s views and pledged to address common problems together. Now they have taken the courageous step of starting a joint blog. Counting only the time since Meier founded Central Park East School and Ravitch obtained her PhD, these women have 65 years of combined experience as leading thinkers. I hope their joint blog flourishes and lasts.

In Medias Res is always good. It’s political, but Russell Arben Fox posts longish essays on political theory rather than ephemeral comments on the day’s headlines. His position is distinctive and challenging. For a sample, see his recent summary of communitarianism.

The Citizens Symposium is just getting started, and I don’t know if it will work. But the idea is to solicit and “compile” a set of thoughtful essays on a common topic and then promote discussion.

I just came across Extra Credit last night. This is James Forman, Jr.’s blog about “education, race, kids, and justice.” It so happens that Forman has recently given space to my friend and downstairs neighbor, Colin Bane, and to my friend and former colleague, Arthur Evenchik. But seeing their names was a complete surprise; I started reading this thoughtful new blog because of the seriousness of the topic.

One thought on “blogs that make you think

  1. Russell Arben Fox

    Thanks for the compliment, Peter. I would definitely have picked you as one of my “bloggers who make me think” if Richard hadn’t tagged you first. Here are five choices of my own.

Comments are closed.