Editorials
533 results
Page 27
Are wars inevitable?
If Hitler had been killed . . .
Was World War I inevitable? How about the Holocaust? The Civil War? The world’s great tragedies may seem preordained in retrospect, but Margaret MacMillan reminds us that they might very easily never have happened at all, just as you and I might easily have never existed either.
Editorials
6 minute read
Sam Katz’s ‘The Storm: 1765-1790’
Human miracles, ancient and modern
In Sam Katz’s new documentary about the American Revolution, the God-like catalysts are neither Moses nor Jesus but homegrown miracle workers like James Logan and Benjamin Franklin, and especially the angry masses at society’s bottom.
Editorials
5 minute read
Indiana confronts gay marriage
Two lesbians walk into a bar in Fort Wayne….
Indiana’s new "religious objections" law exempts businesses from servicing same-sex marriages if doing so would violate the business owners’ religious beliefs. How could this exemption play out? Let us count the ways.
Editorials
3 minute read
In defense of robots
Fear of the future
Today’s great threat to humanity, we are told, comes from robots and algorithms, which will throw most of us out of work while enslaving us to machines. But whose humanity flourished back in the good old pre-robotic days when most people worked on assembly lines or in coal mines?
Editorials
7 minute read
Anti-Muslim ads on SEPTA buses
Free the SEPTA 1 million!
A federal judge says SEPTA can’t reject ads disparaging Islam. He thinks he’s striking a blow for free speech. But who will strike a blow for all those captive commuters who’ll be unwillingly subjected to this bigotry after a hard day at the office?
Editorials
5 minute read
In search of low-profile restaurants
A farewell to super-chefs
When it comes to ranking restaurants, what works for Craig LaBan and Philadelphia magazine may not work for you or me. Good restaurants, like good friends, manage to fly beneath the mass media’s radar.
Editorials
4 minute read
Counting down to Netanyahu
The clock is ticking….
As I write, Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress is less than 24 hours away, and the suspense is killing me.
Editorials
4 minute read
Starting over: Jon Stewart and Al Bagnoli
F. Scott Fitzgerald was wrong
Should you stay in a successful job just because you can? By chucking their successful careers and starting over, Jon Stewart, Al Bagnoli, and dozens of others demonstrate the rewards of taking risks.
Editorials
5 minute read
Death of a 'Mungerman'
They were big-time, in the best sense of the word
George Munger was a humble Penn football coach who produced arrogant teams. His bruising players grew up into genuinely gentle men just like himself. Bernie Lemonick epitomized the breed.
Editorials
4 minute read
Brian Williams and ‘encouraged memory’
Brian Williams channels Buffalo Bill
The NBC News anchor Brian Williams isn’t the first public figure to embellish the truth for the purpose of self-aggrandizement. Under the spell of “encouraged memory,” ordinary folks often become enablers for the myths that prominent people circulate about themselves.
Editorials
5 minute read