Editorials
536 results
Page 35
Grading New York Times columnists
The day of the pundit: My favorite Times columnists
Which New York Times op-ed columnists command my attention these days? My idiosyncratic ratings are based on a single criterion: How do I react when I see the columnist's byline? The envelope, please.
Editorials
5 minute read
When Jews cross themselves
You don't have to be Christian to make the Sign of the Cross
The Sign of the Cross is an effective Christian religious symbol as well as a dandy marketing tool. It also serves other ueful functions, as Mel Brooks and yours truly can attest.
Editorials
4 minute read
Sociopaths on stage: Bernard Madoff
The tragedy of Bernard Madoff? No, it doesn't work for me, either
Most of us can empathize with a tragic hero who falls from grace. But what can you feel about a swindler like Bernard Madoff, who's just plain manipulative from the get-go? And in that case, why write a play about him?
Editorials
6 minute read
The Eichmann verdict: Arendt's vs. mine
Hannah Arendt's verdict vs. mine: What Eichmann's judges should have said
The final paragraph of Hannah Arendt's Eichmann in Jerusalem— in which she suggests what the judges should have told a Nazi war criminal— is widely acclaimed as brilliant but always struck me as intellectually flimsy. So what should the judges have said? I thought you'd never ask.
Editorials
7 minute read
What George Washington could teach Egyptians
Where are you, George Washington, now that Egypt needs you?
George Washington hungered for respect rather than power. As a result, he perfected the art of gaining power by giving it away. Egypt's generals and their foes in the Muslim Brotherhood could use someone like him right now.
Editorials
6 minute read
The Zimmerman trial and the Pritzker Prize
Are gated communities really safe? Is the Pritzker Prize worth the fuss?
Two questions about the George Zimmerman murder case, plus one question about the Pritzker Prize and sexism in architecture.
Editorials
4 minute read
The "tragedy' of a Polish actress
An actress who couldn't handle freedom
Elzbieta Czyżewska was a widely acclaimed Polish actress in the '60s, but her career and her life fell apart after she moved to the U.S. Freedom, it seems was her undoing. But whose fault is that?
Editorials
5 minute read
Sam Katz films the Rizzo years
Still fighting about Rizzo
The fourth installment of Sam Katz's Philadelphia history documentary takes us back to the nasty and divisive Rizzo years of the 1970s. What's lacking is a sense of perspective and context. Three separate historical/journalistic problems are to blame.
Editorials
6 minute read
When pop music confronted history
Don't know much about history: The accidental wisdom of pop songs
From Noel Coward to Jimmy Jones, history was once a major staple of popular songs for adolescents like me, who enjoyed ridiculing the material that our teachers crammed down our throats. Nowadays, pop songs are political rather than historical.
Editorials
4 minute read
Andrew Greeley, latter-day Erasmus
He did it his way
Like Erasmus of Rotterdam before him, the combative Catholic priest Andrew Greeley steadfastly refused to align himself with any institution or philosophy. How did he manage to survive and even flourish?
Editorials
4 minute read