Who was Spengler?

I can’t remember how I first found Spengler, but it was sometime in the fall of 2007 when I was tentatively trying to figure out how to run my first blog. Then as now, stumbling across obviously intelligent writers with highly idiosyncratic, often repulsive, and yet sometimes weirdly compelling takes on the world was a pleasure that seemed unique to the internet. My tastes may be weird in this respect, but I prefer a little bit of mystery in my blog-reading. Trying to figure out Spengler’s background was as frustrating/rewarding as, say, trying to figure out why James Poulos hates “a sense of.” It’s the blogosphere’s equivalent of long-plot shows like LOST, where hints and clues are leaked out slowly and issued remain unresolved over the course of years, not posts/episodes. Not for everybody, but I dig it.

Well, Spengler is David P. Goldman, and he’s the new associate editor of First Things.