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Build Back Beautiful

City Journal
August 23, 2026
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The movement to restore beauty in public architecture is gaining surprising adherents beyond just conservatives, notes Paul Shakeshaft in City Journal. While deciding whether a new design meets the beauty test is guaranteed to remain contentious, Shakeshaft welcomes the recognition that it should be a key criterion. As he puts it: “We don’t need to arrive at a metaphysical consensus over the definition of beauty to reestablish its place in our public life.”

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Bad Mom? Bad Wife?

The Massachusetts trial of Lindsay Clancy for killing her three young children (recently declared a mistrial) became a litmus test for couples – with some publicly breaking off engagements due to disagreements over her culpability. Writing in The American Mind, Evie Solheim ponders the malign influence of social media on the marriage decision for younger generations. “When men and women treat existence as a zero-sum game, everyone loses,” she writes, pleading for greater understanding between the sexes. For more on marriage, see this C2C article.

We’d Rather Not Discuss It

Writing in The European Conservative, Íris Erlingsdóttir explains why Iceland recently rejected an invitation to discuss joining the European Union. “Why not look? Why not listen?” she asks. “Icelanders’ answer was a resounding Nei.” With an 82 percent turnout, the frosty island nation of 400,000 people voted 52.8 percent against even talking about hooking up with the EU’s 450 million. Among the reasons was protecting the country’s hard-won 200-nautical-mile fishing limit for its vital cod fishery. For more on the sanctity of borders, see this C2C article.

Keep an Eye Out for Car Thieves

John Shjarback, writing in the conservative-minded City Journal, offers a contrarian’s take on Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR). While admitting many legitimate fears about the rise of the surveillance state, he argues that fighting a troublesome rise in car thefts is a valid reason for allowing police access to this technology. “Singling out ALPR as Big Brother makes little sense,” he reports, arguing privacy can be better protected through greater regulation rather than an outright ban. For more on road surveillance, see this C2C article.

Not Your Grandparents’ Kennedy

The makers of Trix and Lucky Charms recently promised to remove synthetic dyes from their products, notes Kevin Roberts in The American Mind. “Nobody forced them,” he observes. “They read the room.” And the elephant in that room is Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a Trump cabinet member and ringmaster of the “Make America Healthy Again” crusade. Kennedy’s Herculean tasks include battling entrenched interests while redirecting a nation that is disproportionately fat, out of shape, chronically ill and drug-dependent.

Bad Mom? Bad Wife?

The Massachusetts trial of Lindsay Clancy for killing her three young children (recently declared a mistrial) became a litmus test for couples – with some publicly breaking off engagements due to disagreements over her culpability. Writing in The American Mind, Evie Solheim ponders the malign influence of social media on the marriage decision for younger generations. “When men and women treat existence as a zero-sum game, everyone loses,” she writes, pleading for greater understanding between the sexes. For more on marriage, see this C2C article.

We’d Rather Not Discuss It

Writing in The European Conservative, Íris Erlingsdóttir explains why Iceland recently rejected an invitation to discuss joining the European Union. “Why not look? Why not listen?” she asks. “Icelanders’ answer was a resounding Nei.” With an 82 percent turnout, the frosty island nation of 400,000 people voted 52.8 percent against even talking about hooking up with the EU’s 450 million. Among the reasons was protecting the country’s hard-won 200-nautical-mile fishing limit for its vital cod fishery. For more on the sanctity of borders, see this C2C article.

Keep an Eye Out for Car Thieves

John Shjarback, writing in the conservative-minded City Journal, offers a contrarian’s take on Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR). While admitting many legitimate fears about the rise of the surveillance state, he argues that fighting a troublesome rise in car thefts is a valid reason for allowing police access to this technology. “Singling out ALPR as Big Brother makes little sense,” he reports, arguing privacy can be better protected through greater regulation rather than an outright ban. For more on road surveillance, see this C2C article.

Not Your Grandparents’ Kennedy

The makers of Trix and Lucky Charms recently promised to remove synthetic dyes from their products, notes Kevin Roberts in The American Mind. “Nobody forced them,” he observes. “They read the room.” And the elephant in that room is Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a Trump cabinet member and ringmaster of the “Make America Healthy Again” crusade. Kennedy’s Herculean tasks include battling entrenched interests while redirecting a nation that is disproportionately fat, out of shape, chronically ill and drug-dependent.

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