Essays

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Page 40
An unindicted coconspirator? (photo by Frances Sonne via Creative Commons/Wikimedia)

"Justice" for Joe Paterno?

It was fair to reverse the disqualification of current players from bowl game eligibility: They played no part in the Sandusky scandal. It wasn’t fair to reverse the change in Paterno’s numbers: That was only a slap on the wrist for a powerful man who otherwise escaped punishment for the terrible things that happened on his watch.
Steve Cohen

Steve Cohen

Essays 4 minute read
How much "self" remains in someone with Alzheimer's? (Julianne Moore in "Still Alice")

Thoughts on aging

What lasts

The older I get, the more I realize that the “me” who looks out through my eyes has traits that have nothing to do with chronology. I may look ridiculous if I invest too heavily in the media version of beauty, but inner beauty is something I can take with me to my grave, even as the inevitable decline of the rest of me hastens on.
Maria Thompson Corley

Maria Thompson Corley

Essays 4 minute read
Whee! Wait — what? (photo of Malaysian schoolgirls by Cavernosa via Creative Commons/Wikimedia)

An alma mater's fundraising appeal

A walk down memory lane — too bad it wasn’t mine

My high school begs for money; this year, they decided to remind me (as if I needed reminding) of why I’m glad high school is over.

Tara Lynn Johnson

Essays 3 minute read

'Charlie Hebdo' and other bad news

News at 11

We are all people. We all share this planet and this trip. I do not know how to stop us from killing one another, but I have an idea about how to stop in those being terrorized the desire to bust down other people’s doors in retaliation.
Bob Levin

Bob Levin

Essays 3 minute read

Busting out of stereotypes

Sing, sang, sung

We all carry self-fulfilling stories, tapestries of what we’ve been told, where we’ve triumphed and where we’ve gone wrong. The stories can boost us, but just as easily they can halt us mid-step. They shut us up. They keep us on the tame side of creativity, of daring.
Anndee Hochman

Anndee Hochman

Essays 5 minute read
Christmas cards

On the sending of Christmas cards

Reflecting on the exchange of season's greetings — for more than 40 years in some cases.
Bob Levin

Bob Levin

Essays 3 minute read
Tatiana Maslany and Tatiana Maslany in "Orphan Black."

2014 highlights: An idiosyncratic list

Editor's choice

As editor of Broad Street Review, I'm often too busy to share my own cultural experiences and meditations about them. Here are some of the essays I didn’t write in 2014, presented as a "best of" list of recommendations, not actual analyses.
Judy Weightman

Judy Weightman

Essays 5 minute read
The latest accomplishment by small leaders: the Schuylkill Banks boardwalk. (photo via schuylkillbanks.org)

In praise of small leaders

A thought before the storm

A thought from the late Pete Seeger offers a useful guide for Americans as we approach the beginning of our presidential marathon.
Tom Purdom

Tom Purdom

Essays 3 minute read
“The confluence and conflict of everyone’s self-interest”: Usman Ally and Justin Kirk in "The Invisible Hand" (Photo by Joan Marcus)

'Homeland' and 'The Invisible Hand'

Anguish in a faraway country

Two fictional looks at modern Pakistan — and a documentary — show different facets of a land that is foreign to American understanding.

Carol Rocamora

Essays 5 minute read
Not a premise worthy of applause. (Photo of Kim Jong-un by petersnoopy via Creative Commons/Flickr)

'The Interview' and the Sony hack (three)

Assassination for fun and profit

The brouhaha over The Interview misses the essential point: that portraying the assassination of actual political leaders, by name, is no laughing matter.
Robert Zaller

Robert Zaller

Essays 4 minute read