Surviving on the fringe: Tips for arts groups

The joy of life on the fringe: What arts groups can learn from Apple and BMW

How can the high arts survive economically in today's mass pop culture? Simple: Stop wringing your hands and start reveling in the joys of life on society's fringe. That approach worked for Bach and BMW, and for me too. Here are six simple suggestions for putting this notion into practice.

Tom Purdom

Aug 02, 2011 · Essays · 4 minute read

Capitalism's rolling crisis

The banks vs. the state: And the winner is…..

The recently announced Greek bailout is a stopgap measure that won't solve the country's financial crisis but does confirm its loss of economic sovereignty. In a world where banks rule— not only in Athens but in Washington— the eclipse of the state by global capital is a profound systemic event with consequences for all.

Robert Zaller

Jul 30, 2011 · Essays · 4 minute read

Why you shouldn't quit your job

Take this job and shove it? Not so fast

Scott Gilmore urges us to quit our humdrum jobs and find important work instead. But when you come right down to it, what job isn't important?

Maria Thompson Corley

Jul 26, 2011 · Essays · 4 minute read

Conservatives, liberals and socialized booze

Abolish the Liquor Control Board? But how will we live?

It's that time of year again, when legislators wonder why the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is in the liquor business. As a free-lance writer for whom this subject has become something of a cash cow, I say: Hey, the system works for me.

Marshall A. Ledger

Jul 23, 2011 · Essays · 4 minute read

Michele Bachmann's migraines

Dear Michele Bachmann: Let's face facts about migraines

Michele Bachmann thinks her migraine headaches won't preclude her from serving effectively as president. As a migraine sufferer from the age of five, let me tell you: When in the throes of a severe migraine, it's not possible to engage in anything except a fervent prayer to die.

Joy Tomme

Jul 23, 2011 · Essays · 4 minute read

A lesson from the Women's World Cup

Triumph of the liberals

Soccer is the national sport in every major country except the U.S. How, then, could a team of American women reach the finals of the World Cup? The answer provides a lesson for any society that hopes to advance itself— on or off a soccer field.

Tom Purdom

Jul 19, 2011 · Essays · 5 minute read

Miracle on the Boardwalk

My faith in America, restored

Just when the banalities of our pop culture had all but destroyed my faith in my fellow Americans, an epiphany restored my faith. It occurred, of all places, on the Boardwalk by the Jersey shore.

Bob Ingram

Jul 16, 2011 · Essays · 4 minute read

Information packaging, Victorian style

Before Google, there was Goodykoontz

How did anyone live before Google? In Victorian times, books like Goodykoontz's Manual and Collier's Encyclopedia told people everything they needed to know. They made useful doorstoppers, too.

Andrew Mangravite

Jul 10, 2011 · Essays · 3 minute read

What messages do today's women send?

Casualty of the sex abuse debate: Whatever happened to women's intuition?

Today's media revolution has eliminated millennia of intergenerational knowledge about what it means to be a human being. And if we women don't fully understand ourselves and the messages we're sending, how can men?

Margaret Chew Barringer

Jul 09, 2011 · Essays · 3 minute read

Antidote for sex addicts: chocolate

Like sex for chocolate

Always another sex scandal in the news. And what's the big deal about sex, anyway? Eating chocolate, on the other hand, produces pleasure that extends from your mouth and taste buds all the way down to your tummy.

Perry Block

Jul 05, 2011 · Essays · 2 minute read