Culture

Jussie Smollett’s Hoax: Wrong Place, Wrong Time 0
- Culture
- March 27, 2019
Writing on the recent decision to drop charges against Jussie Smollett, the New York Times observed that for Smollett, “The outcome couldn’t have been better.” It’s no surprise that Chicago’s mayor and police chief are both furious. And while he got off ridiculously easily, there is perhaps one thing that could have gone even better
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The Virtues of Boredom in an Anxious Age 0
- Culture
- March 27, 2019
Today’s parents are fixated on setting their children on strategic paths to “success”— cramming their days with lessons, sports, clubs, camps, and so on. The goal: to enrich their kids’ lives with new knowledge and experiences. Or, more commonly, “to keep them busy.” We do the same for ourselves, of course, stocking our calendars with
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The Best Way to Teach History to Children 0
- Culture
- March 27, 2019
When an old person dies, a library burns to the ground. – Variation on an African proverb In the mid-1990s, Mrs. Irene Harrison (1890-1999) from Akron, Ohio stayed in my bed-and-breakfast in Western North Carolina. On her last visit,
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Tara Westover and the Contradictions Which Allowed Her to Write a NYT Bestseller 2
- Culture
- March 26, 2019
Human beings love a good rags-to-riches story. As proof of this, consider the enduring popularity of the fairy tale ‘Cinderella.’ In recent years, Americans have put their own unique twist on this genre: the memoirs of people who achieved success after escaping the white working class. Famous examples include The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
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NEWS: Charges Against Jussie Smollett Dropped 0
- Culture
- March 26, 2019
The Chicago Police Department is reportedly furious after the state dropped charges against actor Jussie Smollett, who allegedly staged a fake hate crime against his person. “Empire” actor Smollett, 36, was arrested and charged in February for allegedly filing a false police report, which claimed he was attacked, splattered with a chemical substance, and put into a noose-like rope. The
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#NationalSpinachDay: Why Our Constant Fabrication of Holidays Expresses a Sacred Yearning 0
- Culture
- March 26, 2019
For those who frequent Twitter with any regularity, hardly a day goes by that’s not denoted as National-Something-or-Other-Day. For example, March 26th happens to be “National Spinach Day,” which I conveniently – albeit unknowingly – celebrated at lunchtime. Then there’s “National Clean Your Virtual Desktop Day” on October 21st, which some of my co-workers probably wish
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