The Great American State Fair opened on the National Mall this week, but the heartland has already drawn international attention. As the United States, Canada, […]
Harold Bloom’s Literary Legacy: A Study in Intellectual Brilliance and Unrelenting Melancholy
The Man Who Read Everything: The Literary Letters of Harold Bloom, edited by Heather Cass White, presents a collection of correspondence between the influential critic […]
Alito’s Empathy for the Silent Majority: A Re-evaluation of Peter Canellos’ ‘Revenge for the Sixties’
When asked what he was looking for in a Supreme Court justice, then-president Barack Obama famously observed, “I view that quality of empathy, of understanding […]
U.S. Diplomacy Faces Reality Check in Iran Strait Agreement
With skirmishes erupting near the Persian Gulf and a memorandum of understanding reportedly moving toward the president’s desk, the Middle East is teetering between renewed […]
Silence in the Mix: How ‘Tuner’ Turns a Piano Tuner’s Disability into a Masterful Heist
The recent film Tuner bears striking similarities to several productions from the past decade, which may lead some to question its originality. A storyline centered […]
Scandalous to Sacred: How Oscar Wilde and Others Found Faith in the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church saw incredible growth in the United States this past year, especially among young people (men, in particular). If you’re tuned into the […]
Spitz’s Rolling Stones Biography Ignores the Band’s Darker Truths
Bob Spitz has compiled a press-cuttings history of the Rolling Stones. Like much of their music, it is hacked together from other people’s work, though […]
The Surprising Power of Constraints in a World of Endless Choices
Fifteen years ago, when my older children were in preschool at our synagogue, I participated in a focus group. The synagogue’s leadership wanted to understand […]
Why Recessions Happen: A New Study Shows They’re Unpredictable Shocks, Not Economic Cycles
In the 1920s and 1930s, economists grappled with a pressing issue: dramatic economic fluctuations that plagued much of Western Europe following World War I’s devastation. […]
Philadelphia Museum’s 250th Anniversary Exhibit Turns American History into a Punishing Indictment
The Philadelphia Museum of Art—in the city where the Declaration of Independence was drafted and signed—is marking the 250th anniversary of the founding of America […]