Roger Ebert's "Life Itself'

A charmed life, with a little help from his friends

Roger Ebert's memoir reveals the film critic as a lovable fellow who never had to apply for a job, fight for a promotion, sleep with an editor or fret about money. No wonder his book made me grumpy.

Reed Stevens

Nov 20, 2011 · Essays · 5 minute read

America through a Spanish lens

‘Think it over, America': Voices from the Spanish past

For an American, there's nothing like a sojourn in Spain to get a fresh perspective on our own current economic and political malaise. Both countries have made their share of mistakes since 1492. But the real problem is the reluctance to learn from those mistakes.

Marshall A. Ledger

Nov 14, 2011 · Essays · 7 minute read

Joe Paterno and Penn State's scandal

Joe Paterno and his media enablers

Sportswriters who promoted the cult of Penn State coach Joe Paterno now profess themselves shocked that one of his former assistants is an alleged serial child molester. Anyone who understands the business of Division I collegiate football programs should have noticed the contrary evidence long ago.

Bob Ingram

Nov 09, 2011 · Essays · 3 minute read

The Madoff creep show

The family that preys together….

What's worse than a money manager who swindles his clients, friends and relatives of $20 billion? How about a son of the swindler who tries to capitalize on his father's crime by writing a book about it?

Bob Ingram

Nov 01, 2011 · Essays · 3 minute read

"Paranormal Activity 3': What ghosts really want

Never take a picture of a ghost

You know the old adage, “A watched pot never boils”? In Paranormal Activity 3, the opposite holds true: A mysterious household spirit seems to respond to an audience pretty much the way Bob Hope did.

Alaina Johns

Oct 29, 2011 · Essays · 4 minute read

Healing and history

I hated you, I love you: Political lessons from Europe

The French, Germans and Poles used to be preoccupied with destroying each other. Now they're obsessed with understanding and embracing each other, in a seemingly endless round of cultural exchanges, museum exhibitions and academic conferences. Is there a lesson here for angry Americans?

Patrick D. Hazard

Oct 23, 2011 · Essays · 4 minute read

My "Time,' "Life' and "Fortune' in Luceland

Steve Jobs changed your life? How about Henry Luce?

I was an eager-beaver academic with ambitions to change society, until my chutzpah landed me in a far more fertile intellectual stew: Henry Luce's Time Inc. media empire in its heyday. My exhilarating experiences there persuaded me that the best hope for raising society's cerebral standards lies not with academics but with media innovators like Luce or, more recently, Steve Jobs.

Patrick D. Hazard

Oct 11, 2011 · Essays · 7 minute read

You too can appear on a postage stamp

Lick the living, from your Postal Service

The U. S. Postal Service recently announced that it will soon issue stamps featuring people who are still alive, which it hopes will appeal to collectors. But what happens if you're stuck with an old roll of Eliot Spitzers?

Perry Block

Oct 03, 2011 · Essays · 1 minute read

Capital punishment as an oxymoron

A tale of two executions

Troy Davis was probably wrongly convicted of murder. Lawrence Brewer was almost surely guilty of an egregious racial killing. But both executions demonstrated why capital punishment is wrong in itself.

Robert Zaller

Sep 27, 2011 · Essays · 6 minute read

September Surf Song

Body and spirit together, for a few weeks more

Hemingway fought his big fish; I still fight the surf. Especially when the sea lets me forget that my body's growing older.

Bob Ingram

Sep 25, 2011 · Essays · 4 minute read