Culture

Why I’m Glad I Read Toni Morrison’s Beloved (Even Though I Didn’t Want To)0
- Culture
- August 8, 2019
“I am very unexcited to read this book,” I told a classmate of mine as I stared at the copy of Beloved sitting on the table in front of me. I would describe myself as a book lover, but my fiction quota is relatively low. It’s not that I don’t like fiction. Rather, if
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‘Do Something’ Is a Dangerous Demand to Make of Politicians 0
- Culture
- August 8, 2019
Do Something, goes the suddenly popular chant. In response to the wave of mass killings this year, it’s being shouted at any available political figure. Be careful what you ask for. It’s hard to imagine anything good can come of this slogan. To demand the state do something, anything, is short sighted and even dangerous.
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I Immigrated to the US to Pursue the American Dream, Not to Pay for Your College Degree 0
- Culture
- August 8, 2019
Candidates were back at it last week, competing to see who could present the best student loan forgiveness plan. Sure, that might appeal to some of the party’s base and America’s cash-strapped millennials. But for roughly 46 million immigrants like me, the idea that the government should forgive student loans is totally unfair. After all, when we came here,
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Going to the Chapel? Not Anymore.0
- Culture
- August 7, 2019
Wedding planning is consuming the minds of several of my friends. The dress. The caterer. The flowers. The location! When asked about this last essential, one friend gets big eyes, puts on a mysterious voice and says: “We’re doing something really novel. We’re getting married in… A CHURCH!” This response draws laughter, but it’s quite
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Why Only Villains Are Running for President 0
- Culture
- August 7, 2019
Steven Pressfield has written best-selling historical fiction books such as Gates of Fire and Tides of War. He writes nonfiction as well; and in my development as a writer, few books have helped me more than Pressfield’s The War of Art. When Pressfield talks about writing, I listen. Recently he wrote a series of blog
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Mass Shootings Aren’t Growing More Common – and Evidence Contradicts Common Stereotypes About the Killers 0
- Culture
- August 7, 2019
When 22 people were killed in El Paso, Texas, and nine more were killed in Dayton, Ohio, roughly 12 hours later, responses to the tragedy included many of the same myths and stereotypes Americans have grown used to hearing in the wake of a mass shooting. As part of my work as a psychology researcher,
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