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The shot that decided a game of Russian roulette. ((Illustration from the French newspaper “Le Petit Journal” on July 12, 1914)

The Russian Roulette theory of history

Russian roulette is a dangerous game

Why did the archduke’s assassination trigger a war when other crises didn’t? And is that a useful question, or does it obscure a more important truth?

Tom Purdom

Jan 10, 2016 Essays 5 minute read

Gathering around the TV to watch some centrifugal bumble-puppy.

How do we get our news?

Breaking: BSR contributor launches newsfeed!

We have all become fairly sloppy about where we look for information to feed our minds and possibly act on. However, it is what it is, and in that spirit I am happy to announce that on December 18, I transformed my Twitter feed into a highly respected newsfeed.

Rick Soisson

Dec 21, 2015 Essays 5 minute read

"When we buried her, we tossed dice into the grave along with our shovels full of earth." (Photo by Diacritica via Creative Commons/Wikimedia)

Remembering my mother-outlaw

Judy was an outlaw. She disdained phony niceness, Republican grandstanding, and ambitious young women who claimed they weren’t really feminists. She was direct and uncensored; if you gave her a book she’d read before, she nudged it aside.

Anndee Hochman

Dec 15, 2015 Essays 5 minute read

An autistic artist communicates

The power of art

I was moved by seeing all of those little brown faces become more animated as the half hour went by and all pretense of cool faded away. They were so excited about art and life.

Maria Thompson Corley

Dec 13, 2015 Essays 4 minute read

Is the family Thanksgiving extinct? (“Thanksgiving Grace,” 1942; photo by Marjory Collins for the Farm Security Administration)

The millennial war on Thanksgiving

What hath the kids' table wrought?

Just when you thought no stone was unturned in millennials’ degradation of decent values, they’re transforming one of America’s favorite holidays. Alaina Johns considers.

Alaina Johns

Nov 24, 2015 Essays 4 minute read

For who? For what? Ricky Watters as an Eagle. (Photo via rickywatters.com)

Other thoughts on patriotism

Oh, say can you think about the flag?

A problem with romantic effusion regarding patriotism is that, poetry aside, patriotism has nothing to do with the rightness or wrongness of anything. In other words, Samuel Johnson was sometimes right and sometimes wrong when he called it the last refuge of a scoundrel.

Rick Soisson

Nov 23, 2015 Essays 3 minute read

“A Flag on Constitution Avenue” (Photo by Elvert Barnes via Creative Commons/Flickr)

Thoughts on patriotism in the wake of the Paris attacks

National pride is not the enemy of world unity.

Kile Smith

Nov 17, 2015 Essays 5 minute read

A sign of simplistic depersonalized display, judgment, and categorical rules. (Photo by the author)

Are we living in a 'Handmaid's Tale' world?

Why get distracted by a fictional future?

Accusing conservative pundits of lusting after Atwood’s misogynistic dystopia makes the risky realities of contemporary American women’s lives less potent.