The Good Stuff

The Economist and new music

The Economist

Recently a friend forwarded me a link to a story in The Economist. As I was struggling to get through the paywall, I saw that I could get a trial subscription very inexpensively. I subscribed to The Economist years ago and liked it; that experience, along with the reflection that my friend is smarter than I am, prompted me to subscribe again.

Despite its title, The Economist is not primarily a financial journal, though its financial and economic reporting and analysis is very strong. It’s more like one of the old-time weekly news magazines like Time or Newsweek, though in my opinion much more thoughtful and interesting.

As I’ve been reading these past few weeks, I have been reminded of something I always liked about The Economist: it’s a British publication. It is centered on the US, as any international journal must be, given the centrality of our country’s concerns to the rest of the world. But it has a different perspective, and in particular a freedom from any trace of partisan slant – it is not of the left or the right, nor really of the center. Its distance gives it an objectivity that no American publication could match.

It’s one of the few publications I prefer to read in the app. When I used to receive the thick weekly magazine version years ago, it was always daunting to try to get through all of it before next week’s edition arrived. Now I scan the app a few times per week and read what I find interesting – a good solution if you’re excessively conscientious.

I try to read publications from both the left and right to maintain a balanced view; sometimes it seems that all I achieve is to read childish views from both directions. The Economist is written for adults. I like it.

- Jack Jr.

John Van Deusen

A few years ago, a friend recommended an album by a guy named John Van Deusen. I liked it fine. Then, I found myself coming back to it over and over, every few months. Some of the songs grabbed me in ways that surprised me. My surprise was chiefly due to how simple the songs or lyrics were. Van Deusen released a new album last week (which I only knew because the same friend reminded me) and have been listening to it constantly since.

Van Deusen is a really interesting lyricist. His words are either simple and pedestrian, or simple and transcendent, and I don’t really think there’s much in between. “Jesus of Nazareth,” “The Red Sea Within Me,” and “Answer Me, God” are all standout tracks, and you can listen to the entire album below. For my money, though, “By Gracious Powers” is far and away the best track on the album, and I have that one below too.

Taken from a poem written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer shortly before his death (and in comes my friend for the Matter at Hand hat trick, because he also pointed this out to me) “By Gracious Powers” is lyrically and musically wonderful. The ending refrain gives the album its name. The song is the best piece of Christian music I’ve heard in a very long time.

- Jack III