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Plague Humor Is Good for You 0
- Culture
- March 30, 2020
My older sister took great pleasure in telling a younger-me the dark history behind the nursery rhyme, “Ring-around-the-Rosies.” She told me that the cheerful tune was written about the Black Death: the “pocket full of posies,” refers to small bouquets of sweet-smelling herbs the healthy would carry close to their noses in order to protect
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Teaching Humane Literature in High Schools 0
- Culture
- March 30, 2020
In many American high schools, the teaching of literature is in the sere and yellow leaf. One reason for this decay is the unsatisfactory quality of many programs of reading; another is the limited knowledge of humane letters possessed by some well-intentioned teachers, uncertain of what books they ought to select for their students to
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Stimulus Goodies, Good Souls, and Grifters 0
- Culture
- March 30, 2020
On March 29, I spoke with a loan agent for a bank in a medium-sized city who wishes to remain anonymous. Her desire for anonymity will become clear after you read what she told me. Her bank, like many others, often works with the Small Business Administration (SBA) in making loans. The SBA guarantees a
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School’s Out Forever?0
- Education
- March 30, 2020
With just about every public school in the country closed at this time, the only way for kids to get an education is at home. Many see this as nothing less than tragic. Writing in Education Week, Stephen Sawchuk claims that schools are an “absolute necessity for the functioning of civic culture, and even more
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Netflix’s Messiah: A Snapshot of Our Times 0
- Culture
- March 30, 2020
The anticipation for Netflix’s new show Messiah was significant. Media coverage described the show as “controversial,” and The Royal Film Commission of Jordan asked Netflix not to stream it, fearing the show would “infringe… on the sanctity of religion. However, when Messiah was actually released it quickly fell flat. Reviews were mixed, and the fact that
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COVID-19 in the Light of History 0
- History
- March 27, 2020
Serious epidemics can have far-reaching social, cultural, and geopolitical consequences. The plague which devastated Athens in 430 BC – in the second year of the Peloponnesian War, when an Athenian victory still seemed within reach – claimed a quarter of the population, some 75,000 people including Pericles. His successors were weak and incompetent, and Athens
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