Culture

Breaking Bread Together: Community Begins With Simple Acts 0
- Culture
- March 14, 2022
It was Christmas dinnertime in Pittsburgh, and the four of us singleton 50-something guys and a 30-something couple were standing in a circle, hands joined, in a former rectory’s kitchen. Humans were made to crave community connections. But despite more government spending on social programs each year, we’re increasingly isolated; some even say we’re facing
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Down the Tubes: Our Bungled Healthcare System 0
- Culture
- March 11, 2022
For a good while now, a California nurse, whom I’ll call “Sally,” has sent me occasional emails and texts regarding the abysmal state of our healthcare system, particularly in hospitals such as the one where she works. In a recent text, she told me that her hospital is having to ration certain medications because of
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Mistrusting Adults, Mistrusting Kids 0
- Culture
- March 11, 2022
The signs on every playground in my city, New York, say this: “Playground rules prohibit adults except in the company of children.” Apparently, any adult who simply wants to watch kids at play could be a creep, so let’s just ban ’em all. Trust has been replaced by disgust. There was a case here a
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Real Men Wanted 0
- Culture
- March 11, 2022
Another wonder of technology was unveiled recently when marine archaeologists used undersea drones to locate and record the wreck of Ernest Shackleton’s ship, Endurance. Video footage shows a surprisingly well-preserved ship, its name still intact and clearly visible. Digging up historical artifacts is always fascinating, particularly when those artifacts are tied to a thrilling event like
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Professional Poker: A Last Refuge of the Gentleman 0
- Culture
- March 9, 2022
Feminists are waging war against men. And they are winning. Yet in this war, there are still a few voices who speak about how to be a gentleman in a hostile world. Chronicles writer Stephen Baskerville does just this in his excellent book, A Gentleman’s Guide to Manners, Sex, and Ruling the World. Being a
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Boats Against the Current: Taking Hopeless Times and Making Them Otherwise 0
- Culture
- March 8, 2022
“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function,” F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in his 1936 essay, “The Crack-Up.” Given that test, I’m afraid I would flunk hands-down. Here are some contradictory
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