Essays

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Page 58
Should Snowden be silenced, or encouraged to speak up?

Edward Snowden: Fugitive without a country

Telling the truth, and other ‘crimes' of Edward Snowden

Uncle Sam pursues a single citizen around the globe for revealing a vast, secret spying operation that targets ordinary Americans. Meanwhile, the nation's security chief gets a free pass for lying under oath about the program. Shouldn't Americans be inviting Edward Snowden to tell us— not a foreign power— what he knows?
Robert Zaller

Robert Zaller

Essays 7 minute read
What hath Johannes Falk wrought? (Photo: Patrick Hazard.)

Back to the future in Germany

A fresh start in Germany

In Weimar, Germany, my six-year-old son Danny made his dramatic debut in a remarkable kindergarten named for a remarkable man whose memory, let us hope, will outlast Germany's 20th-Century tragedies.
Patrick D. Hazard

Patrick D. Hazard

Essays 2 minute read
Regimented schooling, as seen in 'Pink Floyd The Wall' (1979).

Education: The key question

The missing curriculum: How to think

Today the question is not whether we need education, but what kind. The idea that an education should encourage the pursuit of learning and knowledge as an end in itself seems to be going by the board.
David Woods

David Woods

Essays 3 minute read

Antonin Scalia, civil libertarian?

Scalia switches sides

When Antonin Scalia, the Supreme Court's reactionary bullhorn, comes out for civil liberties, you know times must be tough. Give the Devil his due, though: Even Scalia drew the line at the idea of the government invading his mouth.
Robert Zaller

Robert Zaller

Essays 6 minute read
Nothing can go wrong, go wrong, go....

The GPS Lady as parental surrogate

Whom to believe: the GPS lady or my own eyes?

Think you're a rational adult? Try disagreeing with your GPS en route to a strange airport. It's too much like talking back to your parents.
Susan E. Washburn

Susan E. Washburn

Essays 5 minute read
Dad never told me where he was during the war. He may not have known himself.

My father's war stories

What did you do in the war, daddy?

My father rarely talked about his experieces as a soldier in World War II. He left it to me to discover that he was in the midst of the worst European fighting, fearing for his life almost every day for 11 consecutive months.

Essays 7 minute read
Now the good news: Your insurance will cover your condition.

The new "psychiatric Bible'

Psychiatrist, heal thyself

You've heard it said— jokingly or not— that most psychiatrists go into the field in order to work out issues of their own. A slog through the profession's new de facto Bible pages suggests that the joke is no joke.
David Woods

David Woods

Essays 3 minute read
Father and son, 1968: Keep smiling.

A business lesson from Dad

The salesman's secret

My dad was a salesman who spent much of his life building relationships and dealing with rejection. He didn't quit, because he understood the difference between the present and the future.
Brett S. Harrison

Brett S. Harrison

Essays 3 minute read
What would Kobe Bryant say about Jason Collins (above)?

Jason Collins: Opportunist or hero? (a reply)

Coming out: It still takes courage

Now that Jason Collins has done it, it looks so easy for a black gay athlete to come out of the closet. But does anyone remember the jibes about "Ellen Degenerate"?
Alaina Johns

Alaina Johns

Essays 3 minute read
At Abercrombie's, everyone looks like a model (and these people actually are).

Abercrombie's quest for "cool' customers

The cool store that could have changed my life (if only I were cool to begin with)

The CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch lies awake nights worrying about what will happen if chubby or non-cool people set foot in his stores. As well he should.
Alaina Johns

Alaina Johns

Essays 4 minute read