Mark Twain’s Eternal Chatter
Source: The New Yorker
Author Ben Tarnoff analyzes the celebrity of Mark Twain and critiques the writer’s autobiography, which was published in several volumes starting in 2010.
Opinion
A Wild, ‘Burning’ Journey Back To Old Mexico
Source: NPR
Author Oscar Casares reviews the work of Juan Rulfo, who covered themes of violence and how it affected the behaviors of individuals in his writing. An excerpt from Rulfo’s The Burning Plain and Other Stories is included.
Order vs. Disorder
Source: The New York Times
The world may seem chaotic today, in part due to the failure of the Arab Spring to live up to its great promise. Pulitzer-winning writer Thomas Friedman notes that one cause of this disorder may be inequality of freedom: Many of those who have won freedom from oppression have yet to gain freedom to conduct their lives as they wish.
Why it’s time for South Africa to take down its walls
Source: Quartz
In recent decades, South Africans who can afford it have erected ever more daunting walls around their homes to keep out crime. One South African writer argues that only removing or lowering the walls will improve the situation.
As pope evokes nation of immigrants, a report shows it’s not reflected in Congress
Source: The Washington Post
A study by the Pew Research Center shows a lack of Congressional representatives who are immigrants, and some think that an increase in that number would lead to a better understanding of complex immigration issues.
Technobiophilia: Can we get all the nature we need in digital form?
Source: Aeon
Digital expert Sue Thomas explains that humans have a genetic attraction to the natural world, but argues that digital representations of nature may satisfy our needs.
The heroes of the French train attack have given us all a gift—hope
Source: The Guardian
The passengers who thwarted an armed assailant on a European train didn’t just save dozens of lives. They also inspired hope and action around the world.
Germany’s leap of faith in migrant crisis
Source: The Boston Globe
With migrants from Syria and other troubled locales flooding into Europe comes an opportunity for one nation to change its image.
Error of Century? Balboa Park With No Statue of Balboa
Source: Times of San Diego
Historian Helen Otfield argues that a statue of Vasco Núñez de Balboa should be erected in San Diego’s Balboa Park, and she provides some history of the Spanish explorer.
Remembering the fight for women’s rights: Suffragists at Seneca Falls laid groundwork for others in the struggle for equality
Source: The Buffalo News
The first convention for women’s rights in the United States took place in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848. Writer Michael Sainato remembers the people who met there and highlights the influence they had on those that followed.