Jon Baskin

Jan 7, 2025 | thepointmag.substack.com | Jon Baskin |Ted Gioia |Ross Barkan |Matthew Gasda

“The task of the modern man is… to find something he can be sincere and serious in; something he can mean. And he may not at all.” —Stanley CavellAs I’ve been clicking around Substack in recent months—a new experience for me, starting a little before we officially created one for the magazine—I’ve noticed that much of the writing shares a quality that I’ll call, for now, “sincerity.” I know that much else besides this kind of writing is published here.

Dec 5, 2024 | thepointmag.substack.com | Jon Baskin

When we started The Point back in 2009, we hoped the magazine would not only be a place where readers would encounter writing that could help them address basic questions in their lives, but also that it would inspire, in the broader culture, a more serious and thoughtful public conversation. On this last point, I at least was often to be disappointed.

Sep 29, 2024 | thepointmag.com | Jon Baskin

As the campus protests against the war in Gaza spread across the country this past spring, affecting hundreds of colleges and resulting in the arrest of some three thousand protesters, academics and intellectuals responded according to a familiar pattern. Mainstream liberal and conservative commentators tended to counsel ignoring the protesters.

Sep 28, 2024 | thepointmag.com | Jon Baskin

Biggest Losers | | Having deferred their destiny with an improbable three-game winning streak, the 2024 Chicago White Sox succumbed to the inevitable last night, falling  4-1 to the Detroit Tigers and becoming, officially, the worst team in modern baseball history. With their 121st loss, they have broken the record held by the 1962 New York Mets, of 120 losses. The 1962 Mets, though, had a good excuse for losing 120 games—they were an expansion team.

Aug 5, 2024 | thepointmag.com | Matti Friedman |Jon Baskin |Anastasia Berg

Matti Friedman is a freelance journalist and the author of Pumpkinflowers and Who by Fire: War, Atonement, and the Resurrection of Leonard Cohen. Based in Israel, Friedman joined the Jerusalem bureau for the AP in 2006. After leaving the AP in 2011, Friedman has continued to report from the region, and his essays for publications such as the Atlantic, Tablet, and the Smithsonian have often focused on the distorting role of what he calls the “Israel story” in the Western press and imagination.