The First Person with Michael Judge

The First Person with Michael Judge

Home
Notes
TFP Conversations
TFP Guest Essays
TFP Poems
Archive
About
Luigi Mangione’s ‘Baffling’ Journey
I’m no William of Ockham, but the simplest explanation—a young man in the throes of mental illness—may prove the best.
40
Why Russia Can’t Win
A conversation with Substack’s Diane Francis about her start in journalism, her love and respect for Ukraine, and why a Russian defeat is inevitable.
8
Dear Sinéad
A letter to the Irish singer of rebel songs that wishes her what she gave me—the gift of calm, and peace, and understanding, and belonging.
11
'People Are Not Fools'
A conversation with Siddharth Varadarajan, founding editor of The Wire, India’s hugely successful news portal, on why this is a “particularly dangerous…
Doctor, My Eyes
A conversation with Art Cullen, the Pulitzer Prize winning Iowa journalist who has done all that he could to see the evil and the good.
11
The Owl Butterfly
A poem for America
4
Description for Masae
A poem for spring
5
What I'm Most Thankful For
Family and friends, of course. But most of all a mother who turned tragedy into compassion, fear into love, and ignorance into understanding.
4
Frank Conroy Spoke Frankly, and He Spoke the Truth
Remembering the great writer and his honesty during Mental Health Awareness Month.
3
The Man Who Saved My Life
For National Poetry Month, TFP revisits my 2022 tribute to my teacher Gerald Stern. Others knew him as “one of the country's most loved and respected…
6
Askold Melnyczuk: I Was a Pacificist—And Then They Came to Kill My Family
I've finally come to understand some of the evils my parents lived through.
Deborah J. Stein: Letters From Ruthie
As refugees flee Ukraine, TFP is proud to publish artist Deborah Stein's lyrical essay for her mother, Ruth Stein, who fled Nazi Germany in 1937 at the…
4
© 2025 Michael Judge
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture