In a little less than a month, the 24th Winter Olympic Games will begin. Most of the time, the Winter Games are not controversial. But this time, the games are a big source of controversy because of their location: Beijing, China.
It’s important to separate the Olympic games from the…
One of the most iconic American symbols, the Statue of Liberty, was a gift from France. So, why did the French give America a statue in the likeness of the Roman goddess Libertas in 1885? French artist and abolitionist Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi wanted to celebrate this born-again version of America, the…
“The economy, stupid.”
The phrase, iconically coined by James Carville, was made famous during Bill Clinton’s time in the White House. Since then, it’s been used often, to the point that it’s almost become a meme. During Donald Trump’s turbulent presidency, we had plenty of reasons to reference it but…
The critics are right. The mainstream media is biased. It is not a political bias, though, no liberal or conservative slant, but something even more insidious: a bad-news bias.
During my decades as a daily journalist, at The New York Times and NPR, I knew that reporting on happy people…
Occupy Greensboro was packing up. Tents were taken down, cooking pots stacked, banners folded. I loaded a number of large white boards into the back of my hatchback. …
When I was about eight or nine years old, I discovered MAD magazine. I was already a big reader of comic books, like many prepubescent boys, and a fan of science fiction. But MAD was different. If it had a motto, it was “no sacred cows.” Everything was subject to…
A recent poll shows that 64% of Americans believe that our democracy is at risk of failing. That poll also found that 36% of respondents, mostly Republicans, truly and deeply believe that the election was stolen from Trump. This despite scores of lawsuits that could find no evidence to support…
Not enough people care.
In The New York Times this week, David Leonhardt suggested that the only hope for democracy may be a “conservative-liberal alliance.” …
As we mark the one-year anniversary of the January 6 Capitol Riot, President Biden and VP Harris took to the airwaves this morning to speak to the nation. Standing at a podium in Statuary Hall, their messages were clear. First, democracy is strong but fragile, and it requires vigilance and…
What would the world be like if the state took men’s violence against women seriously? For the past three years the Law Commission for England and Wales has been pondering this idea in its review of Hate Crime legislation. At present the state is ambivalent about the safety of women…
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