Here’s an observation about centrism, from Bari Weiss’s excellent book, How to Fight Anti-Semitism (2019), which I read last week, and find myself still thinking about:

…in the absence of healthy centrism, many progressive politicians practice avoidance. They ignore real social tensions associated with mass immigration, unsure how to acknowledge those tensions without stoking xenophobia, alienating their perceived base, or being smeared as bigots. They downplay patriotism, afraid of stoking jingoism or of being accused of it. They ignore the need for a return to a common culture or even a set of civic values, lest they be accused of promoting cultural intolerance. […] In the absence of serious liberal answers to these significant questions, the bluntness of authoritarian populists becomes that much more seductive to the average voter, who comes to see liberals as evasive and out of touch.

There’s a third, lesser observed problem in all the tragedy of recent weeks: there are few, if any, adults in any room right now. To lift a phrase from P.J. O’Rourke, we need a cry from the far middle.

Inkoo Kang’s reflection in the New Yorker on the end of the FX series, Reservation Dogs (2021-2023), which I also finished last week and recommend, captures something I’ve been trying to describe about the network’s artistic approach for years:

The showrunner, Sterlin Harjo, who created the series with Taika Waititi, continued expanding this mosaic for the next two seasons, in a mode spearheaded by Louis C.K.’s “Louie” and brought to its apex by Donald Glover’s “Atlanta”: the formally and tonally mercurial, auteur-driven, detour-prone, impressionistic half-hour dramedy. (Call it “the FX mood piece.”) The result can be easier to admire than to get lost in.

If you’ve also finished the show, I recommend listening to Marc Bernardin’s recent thoughts on the Fatman Beyond podcast.

Speaking of podcasts, Halloween is tomorrow, and that means there’s still time to listen to the Dana Gould Hour’s annual special.