Essays
1093 results
Page 63
Good riddance to Texas
At last: A good idea from Texas
So some Texans want to leave the Union? Maybe this time we should think hard about letting them go. There'd be little to lose except a really large Death Row population, and a lot to gain.
Essays
5 minute read
On rediscovering my ancestral silver
Proust had his madeleine, I have my pickle forks
My family silver service is a relic of a chapter in my life that I'd rather forget. But it came to my rescue the other day, and in the process it taught me something about editing my past.
Essays
4 minute read
A New Year's Mummer kaleidoscope
9 p.m. Two Street, New Year's
It's New Year's night on Broad Street in Philadelphia. Do you know where your grandparents are?
Essays
2 minute read
Fun with feng shui
Close that toilet lid (and don't ask why): The irrational benefits of feng shui
I don't exactly believe in feng shui, but my life had stubbornly resisted all rational efforts to improve it. So why not try something that's seemingly irrational?
Essays
4 minute read
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A pro quarterback's confession
If I knew then what I know now: Confessions of a maverick pro quarterback
During my playing years, I knew that there was something wrong with pro football, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Our coaches tried to pretend that the team was a family. But it wasn't a family at all. It was a meat grinder.
Essays
9 minute read
Behind the scenes at the Penn Museum
Mummy's the word
How can museums give visitors an experience that's genuine rather than packaged and spoon-fed? The Penn Museum has come up with an ingenious response: It lets visitors watch conservators as they clean and restore mummies and other artifacts.
Essays
3 minute read
The decline of wit in public life
What Churchill said to Lady Astor (and Ann Coulter didn't say to Obama)
Incivility and intemperate language are on the rise in political and public discourse. But as Churchill and Disraeli demonstrated, there's a way to get your point across and have a little fun, too.
Essays
3 minute read
Gross National Happiness: A global debate
Can government make you happy?
Beyond a certain threshold, rising incomes don't bring greater happiness. But what can governments do— other than economic development— to promote happiness? One answer is emerging, of all places, in the tiny Himalayan nation of Bhutan.
Essays
3 minute read
Why Americans love guns
The ideal tool for all your emotional needs
In a culture of disposable commodities, certain hand-held objects— like cell phones and iPods— seem to retain the quality of totems or fetishes. But no piece of machinery resonates with the feel of childhood control like a gun.
Essays
6 minute read
The Connecticut shootings: Symptoms and causes
Beyond guns: What the world needs now
Last week's mass shootings in Connecticut revived America's debate about guns. But guns are merely a symptom, not a cause, of a larger challenge confronting civilized societies.
Essays
4 minute read