One of the things that I have valued most about my graduate education has been the level of attention my programs and instructors have brought to my own teaching. At both my MA institution and at the doctoral level, I’ve been part of programs and departments that take graduate teaching of undergraduates very seriously, and […]
Continue reading →Since a new sexy war on Iraq is now being discussed, with “liberal interventionists” like Anne-Marie Slaughter and Samantha Power finally going ahead and collapsing any distinction between themselves and neoconservatism, the old war on Iraq has come up again. There have been, of course, several half-hearted spasms of apologetics from those liberal supporters of […]
Continue reading →It’s hard for me to think of a piece that I’ve agreed with more vigorously, this year, than this piece by Andrew Sharp on how annoying both Lebron James haters and Lebron James defenders are. And for more than just his take on the Heat and Lebron, but for how this dynamic plays out in […]
Continue reading →That post title might sound snotty, but I assure you that I mean it in just the opposite sense. I’m inspired by Corey Robin’s piece about riding the subway in order to find the time and space to read books, inspired by this essay by Tim Parks about how hard it is to read books […]
Continue reading →Adam Ozimek dings me, fairly, for being insufficiently rigorous in how I talk about cultural respect for teachers. So: I will cop to speaking too loosely about respect and satisfaction when it comes to this topic. Adam is right to get on me about this stuff, and I resolve to do better in the future. […]
Continue reading →So with the arrival of the World Cup at last, I want to endorse the virtues of liking a sport just as much as you want to and when you want to. I am a classically casual American soccer fan: I watch the major international tournaments like the World Cup, the Euro Cup, the Confed […]
Continue reading →Deadspin is, by my lights, the most important and successful blog in the history of the medium. What blog has been more influential within its sector of the media? What other blog has had a larger impact on the subjects it covers? Even the traditional media types who hate Deadspin the most read it religiously. […]
Continue reading →I don’t know who came up with this, but it’s the truth.
Continue reading →School reformers have scored, in their view, a major victory in their efforts by winning a key court battle against teacher tenure. (Through the financial power of a Silicon Valley oligarch, naturally.) Unfortunately for the reformers, getting rid of tenure can’t fix schools– especially by their own logic. Let’s walk through this step by step […]
Continue reading →“From my place of lack,” – Sameer Pandya, “The Spelling Bee: America’s Great Racial Freaks and Geeks Show” No, man. Just no. Great piece, overall. But nothing good can ever come from “From my place of lack.”
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