Author Archives: Luke Ford

About Luke Ford

My work has been covered in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and on 60 Minutes. I teach Alexander Technique in Beverly Hills (Alexander90210.com).

Blocked Exits: Joseph Kahn’s Times Through Albert Hirschman’s Exit, Voice, and Loyalty

Albert Hirschman (1915-2012) published Exit, Voice, and Loyalty in 1970, and the book’s machinery fits in a paragraph. When an organization deteriorates, its members and customers have two recuperative responses. They can exit, taking their business or their labor elsewhere, … Continue reading

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The Crown and the Premier: Joseph Kahn’s Times Through Walter Bagehot’s English Constitution

Walter Bagehot (1826-1877) published The English Constitution in 1867 to explain why the textbook account of British government was wrong. The textbooks described a balance of Crown, Lords, and Commons. Bagehot said the working constitution divided along a different line, … Continue reading

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Unspotted: Joseph Kahn’s Times Through Mary Douglas’s Purity and Danger

Mary Douglas (1921-2007) published Purity and Danger in 1966 and gave social science its most useful definition of dirt: matter out of place. Dirt is not a quality of things; it is a by-product of classification. Shoes are not dirty, … Continue reading

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The Columbia Journalism Review Anthropology

In his 2018 book, The Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities, John J. Mearsheimer wrote: My view is that we are profoundly social beings from the start to the finish of our lives and that individualism is of secondary … Continue reading

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The Dean Baquet Anthropology

In his 2018 book, The Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities, John J. Mearsheimer wrote: My view is that we are profoundly social beings from the start to the finish of our lives and that individualism is of secondary … Continue reading

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The Anthropology of New York Times Editor Joseph Kahn

In his 2018 book, The Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities, John J. Mearsheimer wrote: My view is that we are profoundly social beings from the start to the finish of our lives and that individualism is of secondary … Continue reading

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Heading a Soccer Ball Hurts

I enjoy playing sports but I’ve never been any good. When we picked teams in grade school, I was usually among the last people selected. A man’s got to know his limitations. When I got coached up, I could be … Continue reading

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What Would Make for Credible Evidence of Voter Fraud?

I remain unconvinced by claims of widespread voter fraud changing recent American elections and anyone who makes such claims without evidence loses credibility in my eyes. Most partisans prefer to blame outside systems rather than their own group’s incompetence. It’s … Continue reading

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What Sickness Tells Me

When the fever comes the man I perform falls away. I cancel the day. I lie down. The plans I made lose their grip, and I see that most of them don’t matter as much as I thought. I used … Continue reading

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The Empty Inventory: Elon Musk Through Stephen P. Turner on Tacit Knowledge

When I hear Elon Musk, I hear a charlatan. When I look at Elon Musk without emotion, I see a complicated trillionaire who knows how to work the system (I read the Walter Isaacson biography and it struck me as … Continue reading

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