I'm looking for substantive essays focused on US politics and society, preferably published in periodical form. [more inside]
posted by zamboni on Jan 31, 2012 - 6 answers

William James was an astounding prose stylist, but seems to have come from a school of rhetoric long since lost. Does anyone today write in an analogously formally beautiful, dense yet lucid, naturally learned, opinionated, and wry style anymore? (see for just one entrancing example his essay on PhDs in academia)
posted by shivohum on Nov 5, 2011 - 8 answers

What are the best and most interesting persuasive essays of 2009-2010? [more inside]
posted by washburn on Jul 21, 2010 - 11 answers

Who are the most insightful essayists of our time--not necessarily brilliant academics, but razor-sharp, profound, generalist thinkers and writers on society? Who are our present-day Toquevilles and Twains, our Bacons and Emersons?
posted by shivohum on Nov 16, 2006 - 46 answers