Editorials
529 results
Page 39
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
David Brooks contemplates the great chasm
The unbearable lightness of being David Brooks
In which an esteemed New York Times op-ed page columnist discovers that rich people have more money than poor people.
Editorials
4 minute read
The Barnes vs. Chartres Cathedral
Albert Barnes, Chartres Cathedral and the limits of orthodoxy
Albert Barnes's acolytes contend that he did for Modernism what Chartres Cathedral did for Christianity. Which raises an interesting question: Have you been to Chartres lately?
Editorials
5 minute read
The Welcomat's unsung heroine
Let us now praise gutsy publishers
I appreciate Philadelphia Magazine's recent recognition of my role in transforming the Welcomat in the 1980s from a pedestrian Center City neighborhood weekly into a unique experiment in free speech. But the article overlooked the real heroine of Philadelphia's alternative media saga of the past 45 years: the Welcomat's feisty publisher.
Editorials
4 minute read
The angst of Buzz Bissinger
You too can play this game: The Bissinger-Malcolm sweepstakes
With his new introspective book, Father's Day, Buzz Bissinger has entered the Janet Malcolm sweepstakes for sweeping generalizations. But why should he have all the fun?
Editorials
4 minute read
Sign up for our newsletter
All of the week's new articles, all in one place. Sign up for the free weekly BSR newsletters, and don't miss a conversation.
How to deal with historical injustice
Who invented the telegraph? Reflections on historical injustice
If someone takes credit that you deserve, how should you respond? With help from a few obscure historical heroes, let me offer some suggestions.
Editorials
4 minute read
Of Jets, Sharks, Jews and "Niggers'
Of ‘Jews' and ‘Niggers' (Do I have your attention yet?)
The use of word “Niggers” in the original Show Boat was deemed so harsh that it had to be softened. Ditto now for “Jews” in Bach's St. John Passion. Yet sometimes a slap in the face makes you sit up and pay attention.
Editorials
3 minute read