> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.merionwest.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # COLLECTION VI - URL: https://www.merionwest.com/latest-collection/ - Published: 2026-07-31T14:57:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-07-31T18:12:44.000Z - Author: Henri Mattila Collapse all [Letter](#letter) [Spotlight](#spotlight) [Interviews](#interviews) [Essays](#essays) [Fiction](#fiction) [Poetry](#poetry) [More](#coda) VI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2c/bf/2cbf55d5-edac-4019-bf5c-bf6b4bf7d745/content/images/2026/07/dodo.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2c/bf/2cbf55d5-edac-4019-bf5c-bf6b4bf7d745/content/images/2026/07/flag2.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2c/bf/2cbf55d5-edac-4019-bf5c-bf6b4bf7d745/content/images/2026/07/image.png) *Merion West* · Est. 2016 · July 2026 # CollectionVI **17** Essays **3** Interviews **5** Stories **5** Poems In this issue [In Defense of ZoosErich J. Prince · Spotlight](#spotlight) [Preventing Apocalypse—or a Power Grab?David Krueger · Featured Interview](#spotlight) [Pit Bulls Are DangerousKaren M. Prince · Essay](#essays) [The Many Lives of Thomas MoreAndrew Hadfield · Essay](#essays) [Farewell, BeanieW. D. Ehrhart · Essay](#essays) Letter from the Editor and Publisher Dear Friends & Readers, It is a well-observed fact that all institutions intended to last—whether marriages, universities, or countries—require periods dedicated to renewal. As many of you know, this Collection coincides roughly with the one-year anniversary of *Merion West*’s second chapter, with its sharpened focus on our mission to celebrate the written-word tradition in its many forms, from journalism to poetry, and to champion intellectual honesty, literary excellence, and the dignity of the human person. From our perch as the editor and publisher, these ideals have in practice been condensed into a simple question: “Do we love this piece of writing?” If the answer is anything but yes, it is more than likely not to be found here. That question shapes our focus on important perspectives that are not given their proper due in other corners of media. This commitment is reflected in a new interview with a leading AI-safety expert in which we question prevailing apocalyptic narratives, and a firsthand account by a teacher in East Africa describing the repression roiling Tanzania while the West looks away. Another priority is affirming the God-given worth of every life, reflected in a poignant article on the tragic beauty of aging by Robin Greene, and in the poet W. D. Ehrhart’s reflective eulogy to Beanie, his family’s cat of twenty-two years. These are but a few examples among the twenty essays and interviews published since our last issue. In keeping with our promise to celebrate the totality of the written word, we are immensely proud of the poetry section we launched in 2024\. In this issue, we feature five of our favorite new poems, selected by our own Austin Allen James. Times of renewal also call for making room for new ventures. Championed by our indispensable editors Austin Allen James and Jonathan Church, *Merion West* has launched a new section dedicated to fiction. It debuts here with five short stories that have delighted, surprised, and moved us. As always, thank you for your continued friendship. Sincerely, ![Henri Mattila and Erich J. Prince](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2c/bf/2cbf55d5-edac-4019-bf5c-bf6b4bf7d745/content/images/2026/07/sigs-new-5.png) ![Merion West](https://www.merionwest.com/assets/images/merion-west-logo.svg) ![Spotlight](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2c/bf/2cbf55d5-edac-4019-bf5c-bf6b4bf7d745/content/images/2025/08/spotlight-3.svg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2c/bf/2cbf55d5-edac-4019-bf5c-bf6b4bf7d745/content/images/2026/07/dodo.png) Erich J. Prince ### [In Defense of Zoos](https://www.merionwest.com/in-defense-of-zoos/) Erich J. Prince argues that critics of zoos too often mistake today’s conservation-minded institutions for the barren cages of the past, overlooking the species modern zoos and aquariums have helped save from extinction and their role in fostering a love of animals. [ Featured Interview Preventing Apocalypse or a Political Power Grab? Speaking with AI Safety Expert David Krueger ](https://www.merionwest.com/preventing-apocalypse-or-a-political-power-grab-speaking-with-ai-safety-expert-david-krueger/) ![Interviews](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2c/bf/2cbf55d5-edac-4019-bf5c-bf6b4bf7d745/content/images/2026/01/image-3-1.png) [ ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2c/bf/2cbf55d5-edac-4019-bf5c-bf6b4bf7d745/content/images/2026/07/granthavers.png) Grant Havers What Marshall McLuhan Still Has to Teach Us Grant Havers, the author of a recent book on the life and thought of Marshall McLuhan, joins Erich J. Prince to discuss McLuhan’s key insights about media and what they might reveal about today’s age of social media and artificial intelligence. Interviewed by Erich J. Prince ](https://www.merionwest.com/what-marshall-mcluhan-still-has-to-teach-us-a-conversation-with-grant-havers/) [ ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2c/bf/2cbf55d5-edac-4019-bf5c-bf6b4bf7d745/content/images/2026/06/image-2-1.png) Patricia Martin In the Digital Age, the Need to Remain Human Is Stronger Than Ever Patricia Martin joins Jonathan Church to discuss her new book that brings Jung’s ideas about the self and the persona into the age of social media and AI. Although concerned about technology’s toll on personal identity, she argues that AI may yet have a liberating power. Interviewed by Jonathan Church ](https://www.merionwest.com/in-the-digital-age-the-need-to-remain-human-is-stronger-than-ever/) [ ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2c/bf/2cbf55d5-edac-4019-bf5c-bf6b4bf7d745/content/images/2026/07/image.png) David Krueger Preventing Apocalypse or a Political Power Grab? Absent a change of course on AI safety by governments worldwide, former Cambridge professor and leading AI-safety expert David Krueger believes that human extinction is “more likely than not.” He makes the case to our own Henri Mattila, a skeptic of both doomsday scenarios and political overreach. Interviewed by Henri Mattila ](https://www.merionwest.com/preventing-apocalypse-or-a-political-power-grab-speaking-with-ai-safety-expert-david-krueger/) ![Essays](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2c/bf/2cbf55d5-edac-4019-bf5c-bf6b4bf7d745/content/images/2025/07/essays_new.png) [ A Message from a Lifelong Dog Lover: Pit Bulls Are Dangerous Karen M. Prince, who grew up in a family that frequently rescued dogs, argues that compassion for unwanted animals should not blind us to the dangers posed by pit bulls, a breed responsible for far too many severe and fatal attacks, particularly against children. Karen M. Prince ](https://www.merionwest.com/a-message-from-a-lifelong-dog-lover/) [ Aging into Acceptance Channeling Tolstoy’s 1886 novella, Robin Greene, who has now turned seventy-one, reflects on aging, mortality, and meaning. Robin Greene ](https://www.merionwest.com/aging-into-acceptance/) [ Farewell, Beanie W. D. Ehrhart, a frequent contributor to this magazine’s poetry section, reflects on grief and loss following the death of Beanie, his family’s beloved cat of nearly twenty-two years. W. D. Ehrhart ](https://www.merionwest.com/farewell-beanie/) > “As I type this, I am sitting here crying again.” W. D. Ehrhart · “Farewell, Beanie” Reputations [ The Many Lives of Thomas More Scholars Andrew Hadfield and Joanne Paul examine the many competing interpretations of Thomas More, a historical figure of remarkable complexity and enduring interest, nearly five centuries after his death. Andrew Hadfield ](https://www.merionwest.com/the-many-lives-of-thomas-more/) [ The Cambridge Five: Stalin’s Men at the Heart of Britain Allen M. Hornblum, author of *The Invisible Harry Gold*, reviews Antonia Senior’s new book on the Cambridge Five, examining how a group of privileged Cambridge graduates came to betray their country—and why the British government was so slow to hold them accountable. Allen M. Hornblum ](https://www.merionwest.com/the-cambridge-five-stalins-men-at-the-heart-of-britain/) [ Pericles the Eccentric Pericles is remembered as Athens’ great democratic statesman and orator. But as Cambridge University classicist Paul Cartledge argues, his private life—especially his relationship with Aspasia—also reveals him as one of antiquity’s most distinctive, even eccentric, figures. Paul Cartledge ](https://www.merionwest.com/pericles-the-eccentric/) [ The Dead Hand of Austria-Hungary Simon Maass traces the enduring influence of Austria-Hungary on modern intellectual life, arguing that the empire’s admirers have often drawn precisely the wrong lessons from its history. Simon Maass ](https://www.merionwest.com/the-dead-hand-of-austria-hungary/) [ ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2c/bf/2cbf55d5-edac-4019-bf5c-bf6b4bf7d745/content/images/2026/07/flag2.png) “Only in America”: Civic Memory at 250 Bruno Manno reflects on Fourth of July celebrations at his grandparents’ Italian tavern in Cleveland in the 1960s—and on the need for a renewed, reflective patriotism as America marks its 250th birthday. To combat growing disengagement among the citizenry, he proposes a new civic compact. Bruno V. Manno ](https://www.merionwest.com/only-in-america-civic-memory-at-250/) [ Constitutional Distortion and America’s National Debt As America’s debt nears $39 trillion, policymakers debate spending while ignoring a deeper question: Is much of modern federal spending constitutionally authorized? William J. Watkins, Jr. argues expansive readings of the General Welfare and Commerce Clauses helped create today’s crisis. William J. Watkins, Jr. ](https://www.merionwest.com/constitutional-distortion-and-ameri-national-debt/) [ The Social Wealth Men Without College Degrees Need Bruno V. Manno argues that men without college degrees need more than job training or credentials. They need “social wealth”: relationships, mentors, institutions, and pathways that help them build stable, connected lives rather than be left behind. Bruno V. Manno ](https://www.merionwest.com/the-social-wealth-men-without-college-degrees-need/) [ Also in this issue Confronting the Honesty Crisis Christian Miller, a Wake Forest professor and director of the inter-university Honesty Project, urges us to rediscover the virtue of honesty at a time when it is increasingly imperiled by artificial intelligence, online infidelity, and other temptations to deceive. Christian Miller ](https://www.merionwest.com/confronting-the-honesty-crisis/) [ Even in the Matrix, You Still Have to Pay Your Debts Jimmy Alfonso Licon ](https://www.merionwest.com/even-in-the-matrix-you-still-have-to-pay-your-debts/) [ We Need to Talk About Spelling Danny Bate ](https://www.merionwest.com/we-need-to-talk-about-spelling/) [ It Was Not Trump Who Started the Iran War Walter E. Block & Frank Tipler ](https://www.merionwest.com/it-was-not-trump-who-started-the-iran-war/) [ Repression in Tanzania Demands the World’s Attention Tony Njoroge ](https://www.merionwest.com/repression-in-demands-the-worlds-attention/) ![](https://www.merionwest.com/assets/images/fiction_break.png) ## Arts ## Fiction [01The Unexpected HarteJS Apsley](https://www.merionwest.com/the-unexpected-harte/) [02Unicorn SummerJohanna Elattar](https://www.merionwest.com/unicorn-summer/) [03GodsendDavor Mondom](https://www.merionwest.com/godsend/) [04The Best Laid PlansRobert Jakucs](https://www.merionwest.com/the-best-laid-plans/) [05The BubblePhilip Dean Walker](https://www.merionwest.com/the-bubble/) ## Poetry > Not that the friendship’s like a fairy; but > the flutter feels like the return of light. James B. Nicola · “A Return” [Chimes at MidnightW. D. Ehrhart](https://www.merionwest.com/chimes-at-midnight/) [A ReturnJames B. Nicola](https://www.merionwest.com/a-return/) [The Rehearsal of the Ballet Onstage (1874) by Edgar DegasDeidre Cavazzi](https://www.merionwest.com/the-rehearsal-of-the-ballet-onstage-1874-by-edgar-degas/) [Lady Lazarus Worries MeDrema Drudge](https://www.merionwest.com/lady-lazarus-worries-me/) [Discovered CriesDouglas Jones](https://www.merionwest.com/discovered-cries/) The Arts section is edited by **Austin Allen James**. ## More [The Oldest New Idea](https://www.merionwest.com/the-oldest-new-idea/) [Gad Saad’s “The Parasitic Mind”](https://www.merionwest.com/gad-saads-the-parasitic-mind-a-reasonable-premise-gone-awry/) [America “Un-tied”](https://www.merionwest.com/america-un-tied/) [Mondale on the Democratic Party](https://www.merionwest.com/interview-vice-president-mondale-on-2019s-democratic-party/) [All poetry](https://www.merionwest.com/tag/poetry/) [All fiction](https://www.merionwest.com/tag/arts-fiction/) [◂ Read Collection V](https://www.merionwest.com/collection-v/) *Merion West* | Established 2016 | MW Publishing LLC © 2026