Essays

1090 results
Page 104

The home as art

Americans spend fortunes on their homes. Why, then, do so many affluent homes look as if they were lifted from a magazine spread or a Ralph Lauren catalogue? Why not think of our homes as artistic expressions of ourselves?
Caroline Dunlop Millett

Caroline Dunlop Millett

Essays 6 minute read
808 gourmetfood

The case for the culinary arts

I’m shocked that a publication so fervently dedicated to refined appreciation and support of the arts shows such cultivated disdain for the culinary arts. Food and wine deserve a serious, respectful hearing at Broad Street Review. Here’s why.
Lynn Hoffman

Lynn Hoffman

Essays 7 minute read

The horror of globalization

What is a German discount food chain doing in Philadelphia, pampering its customers and employees alike and otherwise violating cherished local customs? Don’t these foreigners know what we Americans did to the Hessians the last time we got really angry?
Richard Carreño

Richard Carreño

Essays 4 minute read

Fighting Future Wars

President Bush is hiring private firms in Iraq for "security" purposes. Why not take this idea to its logical extreme by privatizing war altogether?

Andrew Kevorkian

Essays 3 minute read
685 Captain John Smith

Jamestown 1607, reconsidered

Why did America’s original 1607 Jamestown settlement fail? Not, as were taught in school, because the settlers sat around smoking and drinking.

Andrew Mangravite

Essays 4 minute read
679 Sphas

Jewish basketball nostalgia

There was a time when short, angry Jewish players dominated basketball. They came from South Philadelphia, and they were determined to make anti-Semites respect them.

The First Basket. Film by David Vyorst. November 19, 2007 at Gershman YMHA, 401 S. Broad St. (215) 446-3033 or www.pjff.org. Also available on video.
Steve Cohen

Steve Cohen

Essays 3 minute read
672 rittenhouse

"Undaunted: Five American Explorers'

Curator Sue Ann Prince’s choice show about five explorers deserves our attention, but it also deserves more imaginative design and flow. Five bold individuals share quarters the size of a row house living room; any one of them merits a room of his own.

“Undaunted: Five American Explorers, 1760-2007.” Through December 28, 2008 at Philosophical Hall, 104 S. Fifth St. (215) 440-3440 or www.apsmuseum.org

Lesley Valdes

Essays 4 minute read

Identity crisis in Salem, Mass.

A relatively inexperienced minister named Samuel Parris was woefully out of his depth in dealing with a communal psychological crisis that hit Salem Village in 1692. His descendants in “Witch City,” like Philadelphia’s tourist boosters, can’t seem to decide whether to embrace their past or reject it.

Andrew Mangravite

Essays 7 minute read
601 SUV

What TV ads tell us

Take it from a philosophy professor: If you’ve ever wondered why American society seems to be asleep at the wheel, TV ads have the answer.
Benjamin B. Olshin

Benjamin B. Olshin

Essays 5 minute read
596 Elizabeth3

Film, yes; digital photography no

Digital photography, argues this professional, by its nature is too easy. If a shot doesn’t work, you throw it out. It imposes no creative discipline. On the other hand, film makes me slow down and think— not only about the technical end but also about the images themselves, how they relate to each other and to my overall body of work.
RA Friedman

RA Friedman

Essays 4 minute read