Editorials
533 results
Page 33
The editor steps down
Phase Two at BSR: The adventure continues
After eight years as editor of BSR, I’ve concluded that it's time for both BSR and me to recharge our batteries.
Editorials
5 minute read
The population debate (A reply)
A distant mirror: England’s population crisis of 1650
England faced a genuine crisis in the 17th Century when its population nearly doubled. But today England comfortably houses ten times as many people as it did then. So why does no one talk of an English population explosion today? And why was the Earth even more chaotic when there were no humans at all?
Editorials
6 minute read
Swarthmore’s Hillel controversy
What’s a college for, after all?
What’s it mean to be an enlightened Jew these days? For that matter, what’s it mean to be an enlightened Catholic? Should you silence offensive ideas and people, or should you try to engage them in dialogue?
Editorials
4 minute read
Mandela and Bush
A tale of two presidents
To Nelson Mandela, public life was a sacred calling for which he was prepared to die, if necessary. To George W. Bush, it was an awesome if temporary personal experience.
Editorials
6 minute read
Score one for population growth
Benjamin Franklin’s energy solution
While you were worrying about population growth and energy shortages, one obscure member of the human race may have eliminated the problem. Reason to be grateful he was born, yes?
Editorials
2 minute read
The Inquirer’s squabbling owners
Where are the grownups?
To much rejoicing in the Inquirer newsroom, a Philadelphia judge last week reinstated Bill Marimow as the newspaper’s editor. But the critical question for Philadelphians, I would argue, is not who edits the Inquirer but who owns it. The answer isn’t reassuring.
Editorials
6 minute read
Editor's Digest
Art institutions that deserve to fail.Opera makes less sense than ever. The economic value of an arts education.Hollywood plotlines are still sidelining women. How postmodernism killed the avant garde.
Editorials
3 minute read
Death of a father, and an aunt
Two vital souls, together at last
My father and my aunt were very different people who didn’t see much of each other, but they shared an indefatigable optimism and a determination to do what they could to make the world a better place.
Editorials
2 minute read
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Q & A about BSR’s new design
Everything you wanted to know about BSR’s new look
After nearly eight years as Philadelphia’s unique independent forum for sophisticated arts and culture commentary, Broad Street Review has unveiled a whole new design. Here your tech-deficient editor answers your questions.
Editorials
3 minute read
Two cheers for population growth
Too many people? Well, how much is too much?
The trouble with population doomsayers is that they look at people as useless burdens on the planet rather than ingenious problem solvers. They forget that the most creative people are often the youngest kids in the family— or the youngest kids in our global family.
Editorials
6 minute read