Michael Austin – Medium

Michael Austin

Michael Austin

·

Sep 13, 2025

Our Outrage Problem (and What We Can Do about It)

Resentment and indignation are feelings dangerous to the possessor and to be sparingly used. They give comfort too cheaply; they rot…

Our Outrage Problem (and What We Can Do about It)

In

Dialogue & Discourse

by

Michael Austin

·

Nov 28, 2023

Liberal Arts and Higher Education: The Vital Art of Not Being a Bug

The second strangest thing that happens in the first chapter of Franz Kafka’s masterpiece Metamorphosis is that the protagonist, Gregor…

Liberal Arts and Higher Education: The Vital Art of Not Being a Bug

In

The Collector

by

Michael Austin

·

Nov 22, 2021

“Mozart Is Thinking of Chairman Mao”: How Ideology Shapes Our Thinking and Prevents Us from…

There is a scene in the wonderful Chinese film, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress that has stayed with me for years (click here and…

“Mozart Is Thinking of Chairman Mao”: How Ideology Shapes Our Thinking and Prevents Us from…

In

The Collector

by

Michael Austin

·

Dec 17, 2020

Dr. Jill Biden Works with Community Colleges: That Makes Her a Hero

I have been involved in higher education, in one form or another, for 35 years, first as an undergraduate, then as a graduate student, a…

Dr. Jill Biden Works with Community Colleges: That Makes Her a Hero

In

The Collector

by

Michael Austin

·

Nov 19, 2020

Donald Trump and the Spirit of 1876

though it is mostly true, it is not completely true that Donald Trump is swinging around wildly trying to stay in power. He has a playbook…

Donald Trump and the Spirit of 1876

In

Dialogue & Discourse

by

Michael Austin

·

Nov 9, 2020

Biden’s Call for Unity Was a Pragmatic Plea, not a Moral Argument

It’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric. To lower the temperature. To see each other again. To listen to each other again. To make…

Biden’s Call for Unity Was a Pragmatic Plea, not a Moral Argument

In

The Collector

by

Michael Austin

·

Nov 8, 2020

The Law of Bad Numbers

Here, in a nutshell, is the Law of Bad Numbers: In an election involving millions of votes, it will always be possible to find reasons to…

The Law of Bad Numbers

In

The Collector

by

Michael Austin

·

Oct 30, 2020

“Fair” and “Balanced” Are Not the Same — and Sometimes It’s Not Even Close

The executives at Fox News didn’t create the false equivalency between “fair” and “balanced,” but they certainly turned it into a national…

“Fair” and “Balanced” Are Not the Same — and Sometimes It’s Not Even Close

In

Dialogue & Discourse

by

Michael Austin

·

Oct 25, 2020

Will 2020 Be a Realigning Election?

In a two-party system, political parties are not really coherent ideologies. There are simply too many ideological positions in a large…

Will 2020 Be a Realigning Election?

In

The Collector

by

Michael Austin

·

Oct 23, 2020

We Aren’t Debating about Values Anymore; We Are Debating about Reality, and that Is a Huge Problem

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates — seven engagements that occurred in different Illinois cities between two candidates for the US Senate —…

We Aren’t Debating about Values Anymore; We Are Debating about Reality, and that Is a Huge Problem

Michael Austin

Michael Austin

Michael Austin is a former English professor and current academic administrator. He is the author of We Must Not Be Enemies: Restoring America’s Civic Tradition

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