As we sit huddled in our homes, insulated behind our walls from the threats lurking outside, I wonder whether we have reached another milestone in our own self-inflicted dehumanization. Like…
Culture
A Damning Audit of Education
When I picked up my son from the airport on a cold December night, one of the first questions I asked him was about his courses in the private liberal…
Corpus americanus
Barbara Ehrenreich, the celebrated activist writer (not sure what title suits her best), has unleashed a sobering critique of American society and its obsession with perfect bodies, wellness, and the…
The Quest for Antifragility
Not long ago, I wrote about Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s Skin in the Game, his latest book in a series of book publications that form a whole called Incerto (Latin for…
My Vanishing America
I was raised in the distant lands of Morocco, on the southern shore of the Strait of Gibraltar, a waterway—I was solemnly told by my elders—that was opened for maritime…
Nations Without Honor
Respect to Tamler Sommers for daring to write Why Honor Matters, a book about a subject that, in my opinion, hasn’t had any currency whatsoever in the life of Americans…
The Risky Business of Being Human
I just finished reading a book by Nassim Nicholas Taleb titled Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life and am now wondering whether I will ever be able…
The Jordan Peterson Show in New York
Recently, I reviewed Jordan Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life, using a traditional style of storytelling, instead of a typical book review, which, given the stature of the man among his…
Behold a Prophet from the Lands of Canada!
Behold, ladies and gentlemen, the new prophet (I will call him Teacher from now on) who has appeared in the province of Alberta, growing up in the frontier town of…
Choosing Which Language to Live In
“I feel closer to an Arab from Morocco than to a Jew from Brooklyn or Boston.” My mother is a Moroccan Jew, born and bred in Tangier, where she also spent…