Archive - The First Person with Michael Judge

The Day I Met Clint Eastwood

In a meeting my son calls "awesome," we talked about his "antiwar" films, the violence inherent in humanity, and why society is "at odds with itself."

1 min ago

June 2025

Excerpts From George Orwell’s ‘Politics and the English Language’

On Orwell’s birthday, TFP revisits his 1946 essay and its timeless truths.

Jun 25

A poem for America

Jun 22

‘America is scary.’

I pray that’s a sentence my son never hears again.

Jun 17

A poem for Father’s Day

Jun 13

Taste Grief, Need Friends

Bad golf, good friends, and shared poetry

Jun 5

May 2025

A poem for my son on Walt Whitman's birthday

May 31

Poetry Is the Antidote

Published on Dispatches From the Basement • May 31

Scott Samuelson: On Achieving 'Tennisosity'

As in life, the point of tennis isn’t to hit serves above a certain speed or win a major title. The point is for a great game to be played—one that…

May 29

A Soldier Told Me

A poem for Memorial Day

May 24

He Saved Sailors’ Lives, Countless Others

This Memorial Day weekend, I revisit the life and legacy of my friend Dr. Charles H. Read, a flight surgeon during World War II who went on to make…

May 21

The Birth of Film in the Heart of Iowa

An award-winning documentary tells the magical story of Frank Brinton and the oldest operating cinema in the world.

May 16

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