Welcome to the weekly digest for February 18, 2022.

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America Discovers Columbus

As many of you know, a lot of my historic work as been on cities and urban policy. I’ve mostly shut that down but still write a column on the topic. My latest for Governing magazine is on how America is discovering Columbus, Ohio. It’s about whether or not Columbus can become the first city in the Midwest to become not just a regional but national destination. Here’s an excerpt:

Columbus was in the news recently for landing a $20 billion Intel chip factory that will employ 3,000 people at an average wage of $135,000. This is very big news, not just for Columbus, but for the entire Midwest….Columbus long operated in the shadows of Cleveland and Cincinnati, both cities of national importance. Columbus was smaller, had no major league sports teams, no signature industry and little in the way of high culture. It was – and probably still is – the largest city in America in which you have to give the state for people to know where you are talking about: Columbus, Ohio. The Wikipedia entry for “Columbus” is a disambiguation page.
…
As deindustrialization took its toll on Midwestern cities and states in the 1970s and '80s, success seemed to concentrate in a limited number of successful places, often state capitals or college towns. In Ohio, that place has been Columbus. Its growth rate has far outstripped the rest of the state. During the 2010s, metro Columbus accounted for 84 percent of the state’s total population growth.

Click through to read the whole thing.

More Content and Media Mentions

A column in Get Religion refers to my three worlds article from First Things.

A column in Salvo riffs off of my January newsletter on the pro-life movement’s moral doublespeak.

Kevin DeYoung and the crew at the Life, Books, and Everything podcast gave a shoutout to my podcast. Their episode is worth listening to. Particularly the last segment on elites and institutions has a lot of good discussion.

I had two great interviews this week. The first was with Julius Krein, editor of the policy journal American Affairs, where we talk about the problems with the bi-partisan consensus and where we need to go from here. (Subscribers can read the transcript).

I also had a good discussion with Matt Hennessey of the Wall Street Journal about all things Generation X. Matt is the author of the book Zero Hour for Gen X. (Subscribers can read the transcript).

Next week I’ll be interviewing David and Jason Benham - the Benham Brothers - about their experience getting cancelled by HGTV, and their faith and entrepreneurship book Expert Ownership. It will be Tuesday the 22nd at 1:30pm ET and you can watch live or on replay at Youtube.

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A Word from Our Sponsor

During the month of February, the newsletter and podcast are being sponsored by Gold River Trading Company. Gold River is a specialty tea company that serves modern pioneers forging new frontiers and charting new paths. Blended and packed in the United States, Gold River's fine teas are a healthy, flavorful alternative to woke beverage companies. Use discount code “RENN10” for 10% off your next order at goldriverco.com.

Best of the Web

Institute for Family Studies: Does it Matter Who Makes the First Move in a Relationship? - In my view, it does. The frame or culture in which anything is started - a relationship, a business, a church, a city - permanently shapes its future. So you should think about what frame you want to establish out of the gate. As a man, it was important to me to make the first move in a real world - not online - setting, and establish a pattern of taking initiative.

Rory Groves had a good piece for Mere Orthodoxy on industrialism’s broken promises. If you haven’t listened already, you might want to check out my interview with Rory from late last year.

Unherd: Inside South Korea’s incel election - Another article on how young Korean men are turning to the right.

Aaron Renn

Weekly Digest: America Discovers Columbus