WHERE IS THIS TAKING PLACE? A Geography of Teen Identity

A place belongs forever to whoever claims it hardest, remembers it most obsessively, wrenches it from itself, shapes it, renders it, loves it so radically that he remakes it in his own image

Joan Didion (b. 1934), U.S. essayist. “In the Islands,” The White Album (1979).)

INTRODUCTION

The work of adolescent imagination is play, and the play of teens is work. (more…)

“The Money-changers Have Fled From The Temple Of Our Civilization:” F.D. Roosevelt Inaugural Address

“Many of the of the most sensational exposures of the Pecora investigation (more…)

“As In The Twenties, Voices Of Protest Were Attacked As “Subversive,” or “Un-American.”” Robert Goldston

“The New Deal reached a stalemate in 1938 and was drowned by the war. Unfortunately, also drowned was the spirit which had supported it. (more…)

“These Clothes Were Both Splendid And Invisible:” Eric Hobsbawm

“As always, it was not the sophisticated intelligences which were prepared (more…)

HYPOCRISY IS BAD: A Deliberate, Numbing Assault on Our Public Conversation

This is a long Essay: 3000 words. Only required for graduate-level credit.

PART 1

A CLOUD OF ARROWS DARKENS THE SKY.

We are all hypocrites. We are all immature. Some of us are more intellectually and ethically honest about it than others. There is no dishonor in honesty. (more…)

“Brazilian…” or “Esquimo?”

Our Gracious Correspondent has sent us a handy List of Things You Might Not have Considered in Making your Decision to Vote for Obama. It is posted here as a Feature, dated 27 October 2008. If you haven’t seen it, we suggest that you do so.

But we have since had the following thoughts. Amusing as it is to think of Barrack Obama having a “Brazilian” among his Nethers, our thoughts immediately turn (more…)

Severely Deformed Characters: John Ralston Saul

“Falsification becomes an essential talent for the elected, and eagerness to be duped a characteristic for the citizen. (more…)