In 1920, H.L. Mencken (1880-1956) was becoming one of the more well-known journalists and authors in America. And apparently, like many Americans today, he was disappointed with the choices being offered to the American public in that year’s presidential election. In article published on July 26, 1920, titled “Bayard vs. Lionheart,” Mencken lamented about the
READ MOREBetween 2011 and 2015 the number of American adults who didn’t read a book in the course of a single year went from 1 in 5 to fewer than 1 in 4. And if fewer American adults are reading, chances are that fewer American children are being read to as well. Such a scenario is
READ MOREIt’s easy to look up at a starry night sky and ponder existential thoughts because it is such a natural human emotion to want to know if there’s anything, anyone else out there besides ourselves. Some other sentient, intelligent being that has evolved to the same extent as ourselves; capable of complex thought, emotion, and
READ MOREDo you want to rule a world? Blow apart a sun? Test a theory of community? Explore the very depths of depravity? End slavery and misery? Destroy all empires? It is possible. . . At least in the imagination. “The proper study of man is everything. The proper study of man as artist is everything
READ MOREDoes teaching younger children philosophy make them smarter? A “large, well-designed study” conducted by the Education Endowment Foundation suggests that the answer is yes. As Quartz reports: “Nine- and 10-year-old children in England who participated in a philosophy class once a week over the course of a year significantly boosted their math and literacy skills,
READ MOREBook-burning serves as a powerful symbol of the dangers of totalitarianism and ideological intolerance. It conjures up images of Nazis throwing books deemed “un-German” on bonfires. It inspired authors of dystopian novels, such as George Orwell and Ray Bradbury, to warn of the destruction of freedom which the burning of books symbolizes and represents. Yet
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