Essays
1090 results
Page 97
Here comes Philly Beer Week
Do beer drinkers have more fun?
Philly Beer Week is evidence of what much of the world already knows: Beer is complex, delightful and an interesting companion to good food. In many cases it's much more exciting than wine.
Essays
3 minute read
The real "soft power': Cultural diplomacy
Dear President Obama: What works better than carrots or sticks?
After eight years of Bush's muscular diplomacy, Obama has embraced the virtues of “soft power” in theory. So why is the U.S. deliberately reducing its use of the arts as a foreign policy tool?
Essays
6 minute read
Death of a restaurateur: René Blaschke, 1997
Love and death in the kitchen: A tale of two restaurants
Each year around this time my thoughts inevitably turn to René Blaschke, an early Philadelphia restaurant pioneer who was literally destroyed by a disastrous Valentine's Day— and, to be sure, by his own mercurial personality. This year I found the antidote at Marc Vetri's Osteria.
Essays
6 minute read
Public TV explains the Crash of "08
The not-so-big picture: Public TV explains the great economic meltdown
Is a global economic meltdown about to consume the planet? Not to worry: Public TV is on the case, with cameras panning the glass canyons of Wall Street in between stints from talking heads and shots of an increasingly beleaguered-looking Henry Paulson.
Essays
5 minute read
The trouble with "Saturday Night Live'
Trying too hard to be funny: Can we talk about ‘Saturday Night Live'?
Some observers contend that Tina Fey's impression of Sarah Palin breathed new life into “Saturday Night Live.” Well, maybe for a few minutes. This show seems to have forgotten what political humor— or any humor, for that matter— is all about.
Essays
4 minute read
"You'll never be a writer'
'You'll never be a writer,' or: My mother's worst nightmare
Many people say they want to be writers. What's the difference between wanting to do it and doing it? Here's my story.
Essays
4 minute read
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Foggy media memories
The fog of media memory, or: What do FDR and Fred Astaire have in common?
Considering all the common points between politics and show biz, there's no excuse when misinformation about music is fed by officials and regurgitated by uncritical media, as happened often during Obama's inauguration festivities.
Essays
2 minute read
Obama's inaugural: I was there
On feeling American for the first time, or: Swept away by one day of national optimism
As an immigrant with dark skin and a strange name, I bonded with Barack Obama years ago. But I never felt truly American until I marched with the throngs on the National Mall at his inauguration.
Essays
6 minute read
Edgar Allan Poe: Ecstasy junkie
Appreciating Edgar Allan Poe (With a little help from D.H. Lawrence)
Poe was a man who, having known the ecstasy of intimate love (not to mention drugs and alcohol), couldn't tolerate its loss. That's his real-life horror tale.
Essays
3 minute read
Romero, baseball and the "unnatural'
Who you calling unnatural? Or: Baseball and weight-training drugs
Phillies pitcher J.C. Romero has been suspended for talking a legal over-the-counter weight-training drug. Major League Baseball explains that it wants to keep the game and its players “natural.” But is there anything more unnatural than a game of baseball?
Essays
5 minute read