At times like this spring, when I’ve been on the move and meeting deadlines pretty much non-stop, my policy of blogging only when the spirit sparks me tends to bog down. Life takes on a hamster-wheel quality, and the poor pooped hamster has few insights worth sharing. My favorite philosopher, Isaiah Berlin, is famous for …
I’ve been talking about “paradigm shift” a lot lately, much to the annoyance of people who are tired of seeing that rubric misused and overused. But bear with me, because it is apt and irreplaceable sometimes, and one of those times is now. If you haven’t already read the introduction to Tony Judt’s new book, …
I’m heading home tomorrow, after being on the road for a couple of weeks, during which Arizona’s new and frightening anti-immigrant legislation was being passed, triggering vast and vastly appalled protest. I am glad to see from news photos that the scope of May Day protests exceeded expectations, but the photos also seem to say …
Last month, Representative George Miller introduced the “Local Jobs for America Act,” H. R. 4812, much-needed legislation “To provide funds to States, units of general local government, and community-based organizations to save and create local jobs through the retention, restoration, or expansion of services needed by local communities, and for other purposes.” The bill contains …
Some books enter through the eyes, making their way straight to the forebrain. Some touch the reader’s heart. I’m writing today about a book you will want to read because it wraps itself around both mind and spirit, drawing the lucky reader into the Great Conversation, that exchange marked by the search for truth beyond …
One of the many things that’s changed since I was a child is the kind of attention directed to youthful experience. Schools are more punitive, with a well-worn track between schoolhouse and jailhouse for infringements that would previously have warranted some extra time in study hall. Yet they may display more attentiveness to children’s feelings …
I’m writing today about President Obama’s jobs bill, a supremely disappointing effort to evade both the necessity and risk this moment demands. I don’t want Congress and the administration to get away with pretending a tax credit to businesses will address the need for job creation. And I think it’s up to us to make …
I’m not in classrooms every day, only dipping in occasionally when I’m on a campus to give talks. But I came up K through 12 in the California public education system, I vote here now, and I have more than a casual interest in the future of the human species, which gives me ample reason …
By now, I have tried out approximately one gazillion concepts, arguments and images intended to convey my passion for art’s public purpose. Some have great persuasive power and some, despite my deep conviction of their merit, don’t quite get over. Sometimes, these are like beloved children who learn to walk or talk behind schedule: you …
Be forewarned: if you don’t feel like a rant today, save this for later. For the last few days I’ve had the strangest sensation. It’s as if I’ve been struggling to emerge from some intensely sticky substance—a vat of rubber cement, perhaps, or a freshly spun spider web as it might appear to a hapless …