Culture

John Wayne: The New Confederate Statue 1
- Culture
- February 28, 2019
Writes a reader from Southern California: “Apparently John Wayne is the new Confederate statue.” She sent a link to this op-ed column in the Los Angeles Times. Excerpts: Most people familiar with the life story of John Wayne are aware that the late movie star was a dyed-in-the-wool right-winger — after all, he was still
READ MORE
Will the Future Judge Us in the Same Way We Judge the Past?0
- Culture
- February 28, 2019
The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there. – L.P. Hartley, The Go-Between In the summer of 1973, I spent a week in Bavaria, where I met an older woman whom I’ll call Heidi. Fifty years before, Heidi’s father managed a hotel on the Chiemsee, frequently hosting Adolph Hitler, who at that
READ MORE
How to Win Arguments When You Haven’t a Leg to Stand On 0
- Culture
- February 27, 2019
A number of studies have shown links between depression and internet use. This being the case, who better than the 19th Century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) to be named as the official philosopher of the internet? For thorough-going gloom, it is hard to beat Schopenhauer. “Life is an unpleasant business,” he said as a young
READ MORE

4 Ways to Navigate Toddler Meltdowns While Shopping 0
- Culture
- February 27, 2019
What’s worse than being stuck in a long line at the supermarket? Being stuck in a long line at the supermarket while your child is having a meltdown. Every parent has been there, and it’s every parent’s worst nightmare. My kids are four and two – in other words, prime ages for throwing fits in
READ MORE
Bonfires of Bigotry: The Sources of Our Present Anger 0
- Culture
- February 26, 2019
A few questions for my readers: When you are shopping at WalMart or your local mall, do you constantly assess people by the color of their skin? When the pigmentation of the clerk behind the register at the grocery store differs from your own, does bile rise in your throat? When you meet someone wearing
READ MORE
The Soft Nihilism of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’4
- Culture
- February 26, 2019
In 1971, John Lennon asked us to imagine a world with “no heaven,” “no hell,” “no religion,” and “nothing to kill or die for.” Thirty-six years later, the piano on which he wrote that iconic anthem embarked on a “symbolic road trip for peace” that took it to sites of violence and persecution around the
READ MORE