Essays
1093 results
Page 79
The war on education
The case for teacher tenure (before it vanishes altogether)
Many recent state budgets take a battle-axe to public education. A full-bore assault on teacher unions may come next, jeopardizing the tenure protections that defend not just teacher rights but also public literacy.
Essays
4 minute read
My heart attack, Part 1: a first-person account
This close to eternity: Diary of a heart attack survivor
I was one of those last guys you'd think it would happen to. But when the emergency room did an echocardiogram, everyone's expression froze.
Remembering Louis Sullivan
The skyscraper king and his forgotten jewel boxes
The great architect Louis Sullivan is commonly known as the “father of American skyscrapers.” But some of his best works are his “Jewel Boxes”— the small-town Midwest bank buildings he designed amid the idealistic burst of the Progressive era. You can still see many of them for yourself, as I did.
Essays
4 minute read
Discovering myself in Lapland
Pass the reindeer steak, or: Six days that changed my life
When winter comes, some Philadelphians head for Florida. I headed instead for Finland and the Arctic Circle. The price was right— and in any case I think I got the better deal.
Essays
9 minute read
Underground newspapers: The first blogs
Those '70s underground papers: Does this story sound familiar?
When I worked for underground papers in the '70s, we counter-culture journalists didn't seem to know what we were doing. Yet it's hard to imagine journalism today without the innovations pioneered by our scruffy band of radicals.
Essays
8 minute read
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What Obama's Tucson speech overlooked
And the lesson of Tucson is— what, exactly?
President Obama to the contrary, Americans aren't being killed in random bunches because politicians aren't more polite. They're being killed because Americans refuse to regulate guns.
Essays
5 minute read
An open letter to Mayor Nutter
Another dead baby, and a way out
As a family therapist, I know that some children in a city as complex as Philadelphia will suffer illness and poor care, and some will die as a result. But Lynne Abraham, as district attorney, at least tried to break the cycle of neglect, abuse and violence. We need more of that mixture of imagination and concern.
Essays
4 minute read
Rendell's casino addiction
Tantrums speak louder than words
Is there any hope for the poor and ignorant who seem incurably addicted to casinos? Better ask: Is there hope for a governor who seems incurably addicted to casinos?
Essays
2 minute read
Tucson's other victims
Another tragedy in Tucson
Last week's mass murder spree in Tucson was a catastrophe for the victims, their families and friends and, in the case of two public servants, for the nation. But the stiffest psychological price of all may be paid by the killer's family.
Essays
2 minute read
Public transit, Johannesburg-style
We're all in this together, or: Public transit from the bottom up
Unhappy with American mass transit? Try getting around in South Africa, as I did recently. Johannesburg's 15-seat taxi vans are a throwback to the stagecoaches of America's Old West, and more disorganized. There are no websites, no signs, and no officious authority figures. Yet for all the chaos and uncertainty, commuters and drivers alike manage to get from one place to another. And there's no extra charge for the priceless daily adventure.
Essays
11 minute read