Category Archives: Miscellany

Legitimate Versions of Bret Stephens’ Column

There’s really two things that tipped me into cancellation, actually. One is Liz Spayd, the Public Editor of the New York Times, implying that it’s only rigid leftists who were upset with the hiring of Stephens, and that we weren’t … Continue reading

Posted in Miscellany, Politics | 25 Comments

Good-Bye New York Times

The letter my wife and I sent to the New York Times this morning after we cancelled our very long-term subscription. ———————— Dear Mr. Dean Baquet, Ms. Liz Spayd, Mr. James Bennet: We have been reading the New York Times … Continue reading

Posted in Miscellany, Politics | 4 Comments

Turning the Camera Around

Through an improbable chain of events, I had an opportunity as an undergraduate to work as a summer intern at the Los Angeles Times. It was a great, life-changing gig–I found that I both liked journalists a lot and yet … Continue reading

Posted in Miscellany, Politics | Comments Off on Turning the Camera Around

Feeling For You

Just about every day, my social media feeds surge at some point with anger at judgmental comments, sometimes specific comments by a public figure, sometimes collections or assemblies of common forms of implied or ‘polite’ judgmental remarks directed at entire … Continue reading

Posted in Miscellany, Oh Not Again He's Going to Tell Us It's a Complex System, Popular Culture | 4 Comments

King of Pain

As Jackson Lears and many other scholars and observers have noted, many Americans throughout the cultural history of the United States have accepted that the circumstances of life are inevitably determined by luck, that economic life is a matter of … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, Miscellany, Politics | 9 Comments

Read the Comments

I keep coming back, obsessively and neurotically, to the question of what a liberal arts education is good for. I do think it helps with the skills that pay the bills. I do think it can make you a better … Continue reading

Posted in Academia, Defining "Liberal Arts", Miscellany | Comments Off on Read the Comments

Imaginary Tales

I’m almost certain someone’s done this before, but I was looking in the long boxes and the impulse struck me.

Posted in Miscellany, Production of History | Comments Off on Imaginary Tales

Is Tuolumne Worth It? Information Regimes Old and New

I’m posting this from Yosemite National Park, where I’ve been for a few days. The waterfalls this year are unusually spectacular due to extremely heavy snowfall in the Sierra Nevada over the winter. I was especially keen to show my … Continue reading

Posted in Information Technology and Information Literacy, Miscellany, Oh Not Again He's Going to Tell Us It's a Complex System | 2 Comments

I Tribulated and All I Got Was This Dumb T-Shirt

Forgive me a brief moment of irreligious kidding. (I’m tempted to not kid and talk about ongoing revelations about the Catholic Church, but I doubt I could stay studiously cool on that topic.) But something that’s occurred to me in … Continue reading

Posted in Miscellany | 1 Comment

There In Spirit

I’ve got a number of meetings at the college today, so I can’t be there myself, but my sister is right now at her confirmation hearing for her appointment to be Director of Operational Energy Plans and Programs at the … Continue reading

Posted in Miscellany | 2 Comments