Salon recently published a list of 25 conservatives to follow on Twitter. Salon being left-wing, the list was flush with moderates and ex-conservatives notable for their criticisms of conservatism.
That said, the list itself was a good idea. We should all be exposing ourselves to different views. A diversity of ideas should not threaten, but strengthen us.
That’s what I think, anyway. So, I made my own list of 25 Twitter accounts that challenge me to think. I’m a right-winger, so these people are not standard-issue progressives. They are, however, unique minds and I recommend them to you for that reason. I hope you’ll cut me some slack, as I’ve done for Salon.
1. Adrian Vermeule (@avermeule)
Professor of constitutional law at Harvard. A brilliant reactionary, his reflections on liberalism will challenge your conservatism.
2. Jason Willick (@jawillick)
Associate editor and staff writer for The American Interest. The best young writer on the center-right, Willick will follow the news cycle for you, catching the signal, not the noise.
3. Oliver Traldi (@ortoiseortoise)
Freelance writer. A deep thinker with intelligent critiques of the intersectional, academic, and campus Left(s), Traldi is a rare breed: He fights the culture war yet isn’t lazy.
4. William Borman (@biillyb)
His screenshots, excerpts, and reproductions of old texts from great thinkers are a public service.
5. Conor Friedersdorf (@conor64)
Staff writer for The Atlantic. The right has plenty of critics, but not enough fair ones. Friedersdorf is fair.
6. The Hedgehog Review (@hedgehogreview)
Print and web magazine from the University of Virginia. This hidden gem publishes thoughtful writers from the right and left who seek to understand our culture.
7. Robert VerBruggen (@RAVerBruggen)
Deputy managing editor at National Review. VerBruggen is non-dogmatic, willing and, more importantly, able to follow the evidence. (Disclosure: I once worked at National Review.)
8. Helen Andrews (@herandrews)
Freelance writer. Her Twitter account is good for quick criticism, but her essays are golden.
9. John-Paul Pagano (@johnpaulpagano)
Pagano is most insightful when writing about anti-Semitism and the conspiracism of which it is a subset.
10. Kevin Gallagher (@kev_jg)
Kevin is the Thomistic light of left-Catholic Twitter. If you are a religious believer, he will test your conservatism.
11. Damon Linker (@DamonLinker)
Senior Correspondent at The Week. A centrist, Linker sees clearly the excesses of the Right, the Left, and liberalism.
12. Philippe Lemoine (@phl43)
Blogger. Unafraid both of political correctness and statistics.
13. Park MacDougald (@hpmacd)
Staff editor at Foreign Affairs. He reads widely and discerns the good from the bad on the Left.
14. John Milbank (@johnmilbank3)
Anglican theologian and philosopher. The founder of Radical Orthodoxy advocates Blue Labour, a socially conservative vision of socialist politics.
15. Shadi Hamid (@shadihamid)
Senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and contributing editor at The Atlantic. A hawkish commentator on the Middle East who nonetheless believes that the West will have to work with political Islam.
16. The Tikvah Fund (@tikvahfund)
Jewish foundation. Publishes valuable news updates, podcasts, and essays on topics of Jewish interest. (Disclosure: I’ve studied with Tikvah.)
17. Jay Nordlinger (@jaynordlinger)
Senior editor of National Review. A self-proclaimed “dino.” That is, a pre-Trump, conservative dinosaur who won’t write what isn’t true.
18. Ben Sixsmith (@BDSixsmith)
Blogger and freelance writer. More Buchananite than Buckleyite, and at his best when writing about the conservative movement.
19. Matthew Schmitz (@matthewschmitz)
Senior editor of First Things. Trending socialist, but excellent orthodox Catholic and anti-dog content.
20. Atticus Goldfinch (@AtticusGF)
Anonymous Twitter personality. Atticus is a conservative who calls out other conservatives. This makes people really angry, which is probably why he’s anonymous.
21. Will Wilson (@WAWilsonIV)
Software engineer at Google and freelance writer. If you can get past all the computer science tweets, the guy has brilliant thoughts on culture and politics.
22. Phillip Blond (@Phillip_Blond)
Director of ResPublica think tank. A student of John Milbank, Blond represents the best of British Red Toryism, or communitarian conservatism.
23. AQ (@AsfMQ)
Postgraduate. Anti-liberal thinker who challenges my hawkish views on American foreign policy, Islam, and the Middle East.
24. Michael Brendan Dougherty (@michaelbd)
Senior writer at National Review. Dougherty saw a lot of our current troubles coming. He is also a font of news about Ireland.
25. Matthew Walther (@matthewwalther)
National correspondent at The Week. Simultaneously way too far to the Right and way too far to the Left, Walther’s tweets and essays are my guilty pleasure.
Elliot Kaufman (@esterlingk) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential Blog. He is a student at Stanford University.
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