Kirk Swearingen – Medium

Kirk Swearingen

Kirk Swearingen

Could a Reporter’s Detention Make the WSJ Rethink Anything?

When it’s this personal, will the Wall Street Journal editorial board keep supporting the ways of authoritarians?

10 min readDec 6, 2023

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A banner with the message “I Stand With Evan,” with a color photo of Gershkovich staring ahead with a smile. (Social media campaign by the Wall Street Journal.)

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Kirk Swearingen

The Baffling Arrogance of the Republican Party

Even if you want to dismantle our democracy, do you want to look this inept?

7 min readOct 11, 2023

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Yard sign, blue and red, saying “COUNTRY OVER PARTY,” with the word “Country” over and much larger than the rest. (Photo by author.)

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Kirk Swearingen
in
The Riff

Revisiting the Songs of the Prince of Flower Power

In this era of dread and anxiety, as we resist the anti-intellectual forces of the far-right, might we turn back to a spirit guide from the…

17 min readSep 17, 2023

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Black and white drawing of a garden-like environment, with flowers and various leaves, entitled “Anthrosol IV,” by Milwaukee artist Richard Knight. (Used by permission.)

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Kirk Swearingen

Ron DeSantis’s MasterClass on Autocracy

The governor’s “anti-woke” campaign in Florida just keeps getting less enlightened. But, yeah, that’s the point.

6 min readAug 26, 2023

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Various plays and books about Shakespeare in tight focus on a bookshelf.

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Kirk Swearingen

Did Trump’s Love of McDonald’s Help Fry Democracy?

When the history of this antic and dangerous period in U.S. history is written, historians might do well to pick over the remains on this…

9 min readAug 10, 2023

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Did Trump’s Love of McDonald’s Help Fry Democracy?

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Kirk Swearingen

A Lively Eisenhower Returns to the National Stage

A one-man play running Off-Broadway reintroduces us to a moderate Republican president who today’s right would consider far too woke

6 min readJul 30, 2023

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A series of 10 colorful, canceled U.S. stamps of various presidents (including Eisenhower, Jefferson, FDR, Washington, and Lincoln), along with Benjamin Franklin.

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Kirk Swearingen

Grifting on Our Future

Student loans are predatory capitalism at its most shamefully short-sighted

6 min readJul 27, 2023

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University chapel with arched stained-glass window and gargoyles. (Photo by author.)

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Kirk Swearingen

Midwestern Pride

Some thoughts while attending the Pride Parade in the home city of (uh-oh!) Bud Light

6 min readJul 4, 2023

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Midwestern Pride

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Kirk Swearingen
in
Politically Speaking

Thinking of Jimmy Carter — and What Came Next

In a world full of Ronald Reagans (and worse), be a Jimmy Carter

8 min readMar 5, 2023

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People with construction helmets stand on ladders, constructing a porch roof in front of a nearly completed Habitat for Humanity house. One is the author’s younger daughter. (Photo by author.)

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Kirk Swearingen
in
Politically Speaking

Dealing with the ‘Thinkability’ of Disaster

Work-life balance? Facing climate change, gun violence, and the idiocy of House Republicans, we need a workable disaster-life balance

11 min readFeb 11, 2023

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Dozens of large red clay mud bricks loaded on a black metal bicycle in an art installation of 21st century art. The bricks seemingly overwhelm the bike, which is still, however, standing.

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Kirk Swearingen

Kirk Swearingen

Half a lifetime ago, Kirk Swearingen graduated from the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism. His work has most recently appeared in Salon.

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