The Prairie Panicle No. 1
A monthly roundup of interesting items from the prairie
Welcome to the first edition of The Prairie Panicle! Your eyes do not deceive you, this is an additional newsletter for West of 98 readers. There’s even a new “The Prairie Panicle” tab on the West of 98 website. It is an automatic addition to your existing subscription, but it can also be added or removed as a separate subscription. Like my weekly newsletter it is 100% free.
What is this tomfoolery, you ask?
This is a step towards several goals here at West of 98:
My subscriber base has grown steadily since I launched this Substack, but the growth has picked up over the last six-ish months. We all receive too many emails, so I am appreciative of folks who willingly choose to add my emails to your inbox. I don’t take that lightly but for those who subscribe, I want your subscription to be meaningful and worthwhile.
For several reasons, including some outlined here, I am trying to reduce my social media usage. I have turned off Facebook notifications and I’m trying to resist the urge to scroll Twitter and Instagram. Substack is not perfect, but it is designed for thoughtful online conversation. I want to focus my energy on thoughtfully sharing ideas with subscribers, rather than spontaneously fire off posts that generate clicks for advertising websites disguised as social media platforms.
How often will The Prairie Panicle be delivered?
I will not unduly burden your inbox or my to-do list, so this newsletter will be delivered once a month, around the 15th.
What’s up with the name?
I’ll confess that I looked for a name that would evoke a visual of the landscapes and vegetation from beyond the 98th Meridian. A panicle is a type of flowering seedhead with many branches. Several important prairie grasses (switchgrass, big bluestem, and others) bloom in this manner. I know, this just got obnoxiously nerdy. I’m not sorry. In a way, the multi-branched inflorescence symbolizes the complexity and layers of life out here on the semi-arid grasslands. I hope this newsletter helps to illustrate that.
What’s in The Prairie Panicle?
I intend for this to be a collection of ideas that are on my mind (my wife is likely cringing at that thought). It will include books, online reads, podcasts, and maybe occasional music/television/film. Along the way, I’ll shout out some folks whom I admire and who influence my own thinking and writing.
Books I’m Reading
I recently acquired two large boxes of surplus books from the Stamford Carnegie Library. I got out of hand at a book sale and now I have several large piles of books to address once I finish the pre-existing pile of unread books.
I just finished (with re-reads of selected chapters) Wendell Berry’s 1970 book “The Hidden Wound.” It was Berry’s first effort to confront the issue of racism in America, on which he followed with 2022’s “The Need to Be Whole.” Both are excellent books, but I think Berry is unduly harsh in his public self-criticism of the first work. “The Hidden Wound” is deeply insightful. It is also much shorter than “The Need to Be Whole” and thus more accessible for new Berry readers (of which I hope to inspire a few).
As a companion to the book, Joshua P. Hochschild is a writer and a professor at Mount St. Mary’s University in Maryland. He recently re-shared this piece he wrote on the 50th anniversary of “The Hidden Wound,” which coincided with our national conversations about race in 2020. Hochschild’s vision of “agrarian intersectionality” helps place “The Hidden Wound” into greater societal perspective today and is an antidote for the conversations that polarize us instead of uniting us around core human struggles.
I’m also reading “Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered” by German-British economist E.F. Schumacher. It is foundational to ideas of community-based economics, distributism, and localism (more on those ideas in my future writings). It is dense but thoughtful and it is enlightening to understanding the economic forces that put a stranglehold on our lives today.
My 2023 Bible reading has mostly centered around “Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the Bible.” Author Ellen F. Davis of Duke Divinity School places the Old Testament into the agricultural and economic contexts in which it was written. This greatly enriches a reading of books that are sometimes derided as boring and inaccessible. That turns out to be a function of the manner in which those books are read, instead of the actual text.
Online Reads
I spend very little time on news and clickbait-oriented websites. I just don’t have any interest at this juncture in my life. Instead, I recommend websites like Front Porch Republic and Plough. Their mottos are “Place-Limits-Liberty” and “Another Life is Possible,” respectively. That should give you insight into the kind of essays and conversations you can find in each place and why I enjoy reading them.
I highly recommend FPR’s weekly newsletter. You can subscribe here. It hits your inbox about 6 am on Saturday mornings and it has links to FPR’s newly-published essays and other relevant reads.
At Plough, I’ve been struck by an essay entitled “Why Are We Lonely?,” which considers democracy’s effects on human loneliness. This will feature prominently in my next weekly essay.
In an excerpt from his newest book, Russell Moore shares “What Willie Nelson Can Teach Us about Revival.” No, really. I enjoy a lot of Dr. Moore’s writing (incidentally, he’s also a Wendell Berry fan) but I especially endorse an application of outlaw country’s founding principles (and lyrics) to revivalist aspirations in Christianity.
Listening Recs
My friend Ed Roberson recently had Nick Offerman on the Mountain & Prairie podcast. Yes, that Nick Offerman. M&P is one of my favorite podcasts, but Ed sitting down with Ron Swanson himself was a truly special event. If you are unaware of Offerman’s personal life, he is a talented woodworker and a huge Wendell Berry fan as well. Those topics come up, along with many other concepts centered around being a decent human.
My friend Dan Stewart and I recently launched The Rural Church and State podcast. It is a monthly conversation between a pastor (Dan), a mayor (myself), and a guest about loving your neighbor and living within a community. We’ve published two episodes, a third is coming soon, and we are excited about the discussions to come.
The West of 98 podcast has been stymied by the tangle of my to-do list and my limited audio production skills, but that is about to change. I recently recorded a guest interview with the help of a soon-to-be-announced producer. Another interview is in the works. We’ll soon publish regular episodes on the usual podcast outlets plus right here on Substack.
My music consumption is sparse these days, but the new Mike and the Moonpies live album is a spectacular work of real country music. It also got an amazing review in Rolling Stone with pictures by our friend Carley du Menil of Turkey, Texas!
Things to Watch
In the last year-plus, I have reduced my television consumption drastically. There is one notable exception. If you haven’t watched Ted Lasso, I can’t recommend it enough. I’ve watched the whole series twice and I’ll do it again. I’m going to do a full-length essay on Ted Lasso soon, particularly on how it has influenced me for the good.
Thanks for reading The Prairie Panicle No. 1! What would you like to see in future editions? Anything I recommended that you’ve also enjoyed? Anything you’d recommend for me? Sound off and let me know!
James Decker is the Mayor of Stamford, Texas and the creator of the West of 98 website and the Rural Church and State and West of 98 podcasts. Contact James and subscribe to these essays at westof98.substack.com and subscribe to him wherever podcasts are found.
Excellent new addition to your newsletter James! Thanks for taking the time you invest in your readers - will look forward to your upcoming recommendations (and will also check out Ted Lasso). Thanks for elucidating your name choice - I thought it was a play on the word "panic" :)