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LATEST ARTICLES ( 1395 )

• Sarah Vowell: Historian-Adjacent Narrative Non-fiction Wise Guy

  

  Sarah Vowell is a living contradiction to the notion that history is dull. She writes history books almost as comedy routines. Yet still they’re full of real... Read more

  Posted on 11 November 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• What Are Humanity’s Top Problems? And Their Solutions?

  

  This is a “philosophy contest” advertised by the “World Roundtable Association of Amateur and Professional Philosophers.”*It solicits a list of humanity’s top 2... Read more

  Posted on 06 November 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• The Hard Problem of AI

  

  What does the Artificial Intelligence (AI) explosion mean for our future? That’s the Great Topic of the day.Back in 2013, my seminal Humanist magazine article,... Read more

  Posted on 02 November 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• The Frog and the Scorpion

  

  Gaza is a godforsaken place. (Why do most residents still worship that god?) Two million people crammed into an overcrowded ghetto. A prison camp. Read more

  Posted on 29 October 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• MAGA Cult Triumphant

  

  The Republican crazies got their way in the end after all.It had seemed the party was completely MAGA-gaga, with little left of its sane wing. Read more

  Posted on 26 October 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Don’t Know Much About History

  

  Peter Frankopan’s 2015 book, The Silk Roads: A New History of the World reveals much not known before — by the many who, as the song said (almost proudly) “don’... Read more

  Posted on 23 October 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• The (New) Battle of Saratoga: Horse Hockey

  

  Saratoga Springs is a nearby town originally famed for its waters; then horse racing. Is something now in the water turning town officials into horses’ asses? Read more

  Posted on 20 October 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Why Believe?

  

  One panel at the New York State Writers Institute’s Albany Book Festival pitted an atheist against an Evangelical Christian. There was blood all over the place. Read more

  Posted on 18 October 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Terrorism in Israel and House of Representatives

  

  In an old Laurel and Hardy film, the pair drive up to a man’s house, and get into an argument with him. Angered, he breaks something on their car. So Hardy... Read more

  Posted on 14 October 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• What’s in a Name? For Sports Teams, Don’t Say Red (or Reddish)

  

  Upstate New York school sports teams have commonly borne names connected with Native Americans (or “Indigenous Peoples,” or “Indians”). Who of course used to... Read more

  Posted on 12 October 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Why Are Americans So Grumpy?

  

  (This (slightly edited) appeared as a commentary in today’s Albany Times-Union)By most measures, for most Americans, our economy is doing quite nicely —... Read more

  Posted on 09 October 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• The United States House of Reprehensibles — II

  

  Kevin McCarthy was unprincipled, dishonest, contemptible. It’s a rich irony that he lost the House Speakership because for once he actually did the right... Read more

  Posted on 06 October 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Richard Russo: Novelist of the Working Class

  

  Went to the New York State Writers Institute’s shebang with Richard Russo on his new novel. Proud of finding my way directly through the labyrinthine State... Read more

  Posted on 03 October 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Lunar New Year Lunacy

  

  New York has made Lunar New Year a state school holiday. In case you’re from Mars — or, in fact, from most of America or Planet Earth — it’s something celebrate... Read more

  Posted on 30 September 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Poverty By America

  

  Matthew Desmond previously wrote about our housing crisis in Evicted. His 2023 book, Poverty By America, is a broader examination of socio-economic... Read more

  Posted on 26 September 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• My Running Music

  

  Most days I run to the post office for my mail; about a mile; ten minutes. Music helps. Not long ago I happened to run a similar distance but found it puzzlingl... Read more

  Posted on 23 September 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• The Deep Roots of Religion

  

  My humanist group hosted J. Anderson Thomson, a psychiatrist, speaking about his book, Why We Believe in God(s): A Concise Guide to the Science of Faith. Read more

  Posted on 20 September 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Impeachment II: Ken Paxton: How Morally Depraved Can a Party Be?

  

  Ken Paxton is the Republican Texas Attorney General. Flaunting his blizzard of litigation against the Biden administration. He’d also spearheaded the legally... Read more

  Posted on 17 September 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Impeachment and the True Crime

  

  House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has announced a presidential impeachment process, as the “next logical step,” based on “serious and credible allegations” of Biden’... Read more

  Posted on 14 September 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Dirty Pictures

  

  Child porn cases are often in the news. It creeps me out that anyone could get their jollies from that. But human sexuality is very varied. Read more

  Posted on 11 September 2023 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY