South Park: Our Great Modern Satire
Image by Joel Ormsby My introduction to South Park came in second grade. The episode was “It Hits the Fan,” in which the citizens of South Park began to overuse…
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Culture & Media
183 posts
Scheherazade’s Heirs: “Sex and Lies” by Leïla Slimani
Most countries contain contradictions. Scotland, for example, was central to the Enlightenment, but it also has plenty of gangs and high rates of drug use and obesity (facts well known…
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The Endless Culture War in the Pacific
My Hero Academia is one of the recent breakout hits of Japan’s anime and manga industry. Created by Kōhei Horikoshi and inspired by Western superhero comics, it’s been ongoing since…
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Three Diversity Initiatives and Why They Failed
As a person of color, racial discrimination and minority representation, especially in the arts, are important issues. Everyone deserves a voice and the arts provide a valuable medium for genuine…
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Does Secularism Lead to Racism? A Review of “Race in a Godless World: Atheism, Race and Civilization, 1850–1914” by Nathan G. Alexander
Towards the end of his recent book on atheism and racism, Nathan G. Alexander argues that our understanding of the American black civil rights movement is obscured by the towering…
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Big Trouble in Hong Kong: A Review of “Unfree Speech: The Threat to Global Democracy and Why We Must Act Now” by Joshua Wong with Jason Y. Ng
As I write, numberless brave people across the world are marching for what many of us take for granted: freedom. Throughout the Middle East and North Africa and in Asia,…
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Orwell, Our Orwell
Perhaps the highest compliment that can be paid to a political writer is that their writing can be enjoyed by people of virtually every ideological persuasion. Certainly this is the…
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The Death of Comedy
Sanitation departments aren’t usually controversial. New York City’s sanitation department’s Twitter account is full of zero-waste tips, charity work, and employees rescuing kittens. What does it take to make a…
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New Evidence Questions Whether “13 Reasons Why” Caused an Increase in Teen Suicides
Since its release on 31 March 2017, the television show 13 Reasons Why, which features the graphic suicide of a teenage girl, has been the source of controversy as to…
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An Ode To The Ghost Rider: Neil Peart’s Journey Reaches An End
We are strangers to each other Full of sliding panels An illusion show Acting well-rehearsed routines Or playing from the heart? It’s hard for one to know We are islands…
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Raising an Athenian
What can we learn about child-rearing from the ancient Greeks and Spartans? I teach seventh grade ancient civilizations and one of our most popular topics is ancient Greece. The students…
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Critical Thinking is Nothing Without Knowledge
Among high school students, I’ve seen puzzled looks in response to the mention of Adolf Hitler, segregation, Thomas Jefferson, the Cold War, Aristotle and the Bill of Rights—among other things.…
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Impossible Conversations: An Invitation
The illusion of unity isn’t worth having.—Christopher Hitchens Note: We’re currently holding an Impossible Conversations competition at Letter. This article will explain why and give examples of conversations that epitomise…
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A Peculiar Phenomenon: Review of “The Rise of Post-Modern Conservatism” by Matthew McManus
Most of us were utterly unprepared for those astonishing events of 2016: Britain’s vote to leave the European Union and the election of Donald Trump to the US presidency. Why…
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Ouroboros: The Return of Moral Guardian Puritanism
The social media network Gab and its CEO Andrew Torba are divisive to say the least. Gab is seen as a free speech alternative to giants like Twitter by some,…
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Dostoevsky’s Campaign Against Rationalism and Progress
Fyodor Dostoevsky was defeated by history. A man who viciously attacked and satirized the ideologies of rationalism and communism and defended traditional religious and family structures, Dostoevsky died just decades…
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Unlearning Race: A Letter Exchange with Thomas Chatterton Williams
“[On Gethen] one is respected and judged only as a human being. It is an appalling experience.”—Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness “I am aware—and from time…
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What Happens When Meaning Goes Away: A Review of Yuval Noah Harari’s “Homo Deus”
Humanity has made tremendous strides in reining in plague, famine and war in recent decades. Take just one example: poverty. Since 1990, on average, with each passing day, there are…
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