A round-up of the latest and best musings on the rise of illiberalism in the public discourse: Stephen Akey: The Canary in the Public Library At Persuasion, Brooklyn author and essayist Stephen Akey reaches back a few decades to his experiences with the Progressive Librarians Guild in Brooklyn as an early example of the left’s institutional take over. While intersectionality is now the norm, Akey says the PLG was a pioneer in the field.