I have found myself, as I’ve eked on into adulthood, more and more fascinated by work. By the tasks and responsibilities people, billions of people, rise each morning (or night) to perform. How did they find this job? What does it mean to them? Is it what they envisioned doing? All the jobs I ever had before, in high school and college, were [...]
Not everyone should go to college, nor should that be the standard by which we consider young professionals. For several generations by now, the push, the goal–the Dream–for adults has been to get their kid to college, get them a degree, whatever it takes. That is the noblest goal. And don’t get me wrong, I [...]
Another gem from Girls. Hannah has basically been fired from her unpaid internship because the won’t pay her and her parents have stopped supporting her. So she is discussing her situation with some friends. Hannah: So I calculated, and I can last in New York for three and a half more days. Maybe seven if I don’t [...]
I love pondering issues like this. The Atlantic headline and subtitle pretty much explain it: “How the Professor Who Fooled Wikipedia Got Caught by Reddit” T. Miles Kelly encourages his students to deceive thousands of people on the Web. This has angered many, but the experiment helps reveal the shifting nature of the truth on [...]
Part of the profession of writing and studying history demands an indifference to place. One reason for this is the slim chance of finding an academic position in the exact city where you might want it, so we want to be assured that any location is surely a great place to do our jobs. But [...]
Finishing up the semester next week, and I’ve got one major paper left. The class is Issues and Interpretations in American History, and without being to prosaic, the professor has decreed that our final assignment is to consider and reflect on the twelve books and three articles we’ve read during the last fourteen weeks and [...]
China has the second-largest economy in the world, a fact that looms ominously over the shoulder of El Numero Uno: the United States. And when you are as connected economically as China and the U.S., it behooves each side to attempt friendliness; it also means it would be nearly impossible for either side to start [...]