The Callowness of Assumed Guilt
The only lights in the room were a desk lamp pointed downward on the long table in front of my chair and an even smaller lamp over someone’s–I couldn’t see his face–notepad. I… Continue reading
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Skip a Rope
When my father returned from service in the Pacific in January of 1946 (he had been gone for three years and had seen action on Leyte Island), he found that his mother had… Continue reading
Right Down to the Shoes
It was the shoes. Mine were giving me away. Everyone else at the Catskill Animal Sanctuary today was wearing, well, not leather. I had slipped into my Justin boots because I was going… Continue reading
Only Losers Wrap Themselves in Losers
How connected are you to the Confederacy? I ask this, particularly, of you who wave the battle flag and adore statues and images of Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and Stonewall Jackson. Do… Continue reading
Circular Journalism
I spent the summer of 1972 as a nightside copyboy in the third-floor newsroom of the New York Times on West 43rd Street. At the end of the summer, Sammy Solovitz, the legendary head copyboy… Continue reading
And You Fell for It, Didn’t You? I Mean You, Members of the Press
I’ve had the feeling, the last few days, of watching a Hollywood train wreck in slow motion but with the star believing he is driving the train and the director letting him think… Continue reading
How Is Political Division Like a Marriage?
The answer: both hide abuse. My old favorite David Brooks continues up his creek seeking a paddle. It is he, who, for some reason, thinks the political divides in the United States can… Continue reading
“What a World! What a World!”
The other day, I linked on Facebook to a piece by Steven Brill that takes elite lawyers of the baby-boom generation to task for ruining America. Commenters, predictably (and correctly) took Brill himself… Continue reading
To Save Journalism, Listen to the Students
Because of the nature of New York City College of Technology, the City University of New York campus where I teach, my Introduction to Journalism class is a little different from one at… Continue reading
Fighting Racism: The Mob Can’t Win
There may be a certain joy in tracking down and exposing the likes of Aaron Schlossberg and Jennifer Schulte, but we should take little pride in the glee of calling out racists and… Continue reading