Editorials
525 results
Page 38
The "anti-colonial' epithet
Who you calling ‘anti-colonial'?
A conservative polemicist equates “anti-colonialism” with "anti-Americanism.” Has anyone told George Washington?
Editorials
3 minute read
Spinoza's problem, then and now (1st comment)
Spinoza's right to be wrong (and mine, and yours)
Spinoza was excommunicated in 17th-Century Amsterdam for infecting his community with ideas that he hadn't fully thought out. Something similar happened in the 20th Century to my rabbi in New York. Come to think of it, it also happened to me in Philadelphia, last year.
Editorials
6 minute read
A fascist "Singin' in the Rain'
Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Mussolini—perfect together?
Everyone loves Singin' in the Rain, right? Me too. But the “Moses Supposes” number has bothered me for 60 years— not for its dancing, but for its subliminally fascist message.
Editorials
4 minute read
Prince Harry's excellent adventure
When Harry met Curtis
Britain's Prince Harry got in trouble last week when he spent his three-day break at the Curtis Institute of Music. Big mistake. Why didn't he just head for a sedate place like Juilliard instead?
Editorials
3 minute read
The trouble with cultural boards
It's only money
Why are cultural organizations spending hundreds of millions on new concert halls and museums in a depressed economy? Better ask: Why are you so uptight about spending big money on the arts?
Editorials
5 minute read
Reactions: Dance reviews, Joyce Carol Oates, envy of the rich
A child's garden of envy
Joyce Carol Oates envies Emily Dickinson. Robert Zaller envies the rich and powerful. As for me, I envy anyone who can write clearly and interestingly about dance.
Editorials
6 minute read
Barlett and Steele's "Betrayal of the American Dream'
Who stole their brains?
The investigative journalists Don Barlett and Jim Steele are back with another cartoon condemnation of Wall Street fat cats and Washington lobbyists, all of them conspiring against you. If you don't have time to read their latest book, I'll save you the trouble: Whatever your problems may be, they're not your fault.
Editorials
5 minute read
Follow your passion? Not so fast
Follow your passion? Hey, it worked for Hitler
From Oprah Winfrey to Joseph Campbell to management consultants, “Follow your passion” has become today's popular mantra. That's good advice, as long as your passions don't kill me.
Editorials
6 minute read
Unionized musicians, computerized composers and Pittsburgh
Make way for tomorrow
The case for free-lance musicians and computer composers. And what Pittsburgh could learn from Philadelphia. (My rejoinders to Tom Purdom, Richard CarreÓ±o and Kile Smith.)
Editorials
5 minute read
The final showdown: People vs. ants
The good news about the population explosion
A 1971 film called The Hellstrom Chronicle made a believer of me: Insects will be here long after we humans have destroyed ourselves. Since then, the population explosion and biotechnology have given me new hope. But we humans still have our work cut out for us.
Editorials
4 minute read