Archive for the ‘Humanities’ Category
What’s happened to the liberal arts?
The liberal arts at American colleges “have been radically altered, both in format and function… What is being taught is no longer attuned to undergraduates looking for a broader and deeper understanding of the world.” So write Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus in an interesting op-ed in the Los Angeles Times. Hacker and Dreifus argue […]
Fortunate Son
A great anti-war song, one with balls. A great song period. This is the original version from Creedence Clearwater Revival, performed live on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1969.
My review of The Social Animal is published in Sweden
Voltaire, a Sweden-based political/cultural online magazine, has re-published my review of David Brooks’ The Social Animal. If you can read Swedish, you can read it here.
Ai Weiwei Sculpture in New York
Yesterday saw the unveiling of a magnificent bronze sculpture by Ai Weiwei in New York, his first major public installation in the US. “Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads” is at the Pulitzer Fountain in front of The Plaza Hotel, close to the Southeast entrance to Central Park. Weiwei is the renowned artist and social activist from China. His works […]
Reason versus emotion? It’s a false dichotomy
With its elevation of intuition over reason and the unconscious mind over rational thought, David Brooks’ new book is an explicit attack on Enlightenment values. It’s time we defended rationalism and passion. Read my review of The Social Animal, in the spiked review of books, here.
PC version of Huck Finn removes the word “nigger”
New South Books plans to publish a new, PC-sanitized edition of Mark Twain’s classic The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, reports Publishers Weekly. It replaces the word “nigger” with “slave”, and makes similar edits to other words deemed offensive. This is lunacy. PW writes: ” For decades [Huckleberry Finn] has been disappearing from grade school curricula across the country, relegated to optional […]
Starting to get in the Christmas spirit…
Bruce and the E-Street Band (London, 2007).
Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)
This is a live recording from Benny Goodman’s famous, triumphant concert at Carnegie Hall in 1938. Goodman was the first jazz musician to perform at Carnegie Hall. And this one performance transformed jazz from a music associated with blacks regionally to an American-wide phenomenon. Hard to believe that one concert could change American culture. “Sing, Sing, Sing” was the climactic piece […]
Anti-religious holiday messages are not humanistic
The American Humanist Association (AHA) and similar groups will soon be launching an anti-religion advertising blitz to coincide with the holiday season. The AHA’s campaign will contrast violent and sexist passages from the Bible and Koran with quotes from non-believers like Albert Einstein and Katharine Hepburn. It differs from last year’s “Be Good for Goodness Sake” theme. […]
Take the A train
One of my favorites. Duke and his orchestra, from Reveille with Beverly, a 1943 movie.