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15 Thoughts from the Father of Modern Propaganda 0
- Culture
- November 3, 2015
Fascinatingly, the term propaganda has roots in the Catholic Church’s missionary work and push-back against the Protestant Reformation. Mark Crispin Miller, professor of media studies at New York University, describes the development of the word propaganda as follows: “The word had been coined in 1622, when Pope Gregory XV, frightened by the global spread of
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Tradition! “Fiddler on the Roof” Gets it Wrong 0
- Culture
- November 3, 2015
It is hard not to have seen the 1971 film adaptation of Fiddler on the Roof or a stage performance of the play. It is a staple in high school drama clubs across the United States and the world. Many communities have a local playhouse that has at one time or another put on a
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Preschoolers Increasingly Using Tablets without Supervision 0
- Culture
- November 2, 2015
Last December, while spending time with a classroom full of inner-city children, I struck up a conversation with 4-year-old twin boys. They proudly told me that they had each received a tablet for a Christmas gift. I was duly impressed – and alarmed. According to today’s New York Times, my alarm was justified, but my
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6 Distressing Characteristics of the “Mass Man”0
- History
- November 2, 2015
One of the most noteworthy critics of the modern age was the German academic (with a not-so-German name) Romano Guardini (1885-1968). Among others, his thoughts on technology and the environment have influenced Pope Francis, as was apparent in his recent encyclical Laudato Si. In his essay The End of the Modern World, Guardini claims that the rise
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Remembering Fred Thompson: 8 Quotes 0
- Politics
- November 2, 2015
Yesterday, former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson died at the age of 73. In addition to serving in the Senate for the state of Tennessee, Thompson was famous for his role as a lawyer in the Watergate hearings and his career as a character actor in film and television. In remembrance of Thompson, here are nine
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War of the Worlds: How the Media “Creates” News 0
- Culture
- November 2, 2015
Last Friday marked the anniversary of Orson Welles’ famous radio play War of the Worlds, which used news bulletins to tell of an alien invasion on American soil. Like many Americans, I first heard this story as a little girl and was fascinated by the mass hysteria which supposedly broke out across the country when
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15 Thoughts from the Father of Modern Propaganda 0