Deep Throat
Whistleblowers, according to Fred Alford’s study, do not achieve redemption. They are not, in the majority of cases, acknowledged as heroes or truth tellers. Whistle blowing is rather an act of self-sacrifice, a suicide mission.
Essay
The Moon Landing & Its Aftermath
In Rilke’s great poem, “Statue of an Archaic Apollo,” the poet articulates the moral statement which the wonderfully wrought torso proclaims: “You must change your life.” Is this the message of the modern Apollo? And if so, how is it we must change?
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The Limits of Contradiction
Seventy years after the fall of Nazi Germany, it is startling to witness a resurgence of the fear of an enemy within. Europe’s future hinges on how this issue is resolved.
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“Palast der Republik”
Three days ago, as I was driving past the palace, I could already see right through it.
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“To Conjure Up the Dead”
It’s hard to commune with the dead when you are attending to your body. But didn’t I see my companion cry back there, in front of the suitcases? Did he smell the odor from human bodies?
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A Feeling of Revulsion
The car was gliding over the drying asphalt and everything around me seemed strange and beautiful beyond words. Ruthlessly beautiful. As if nature itself had decided to flaunt all the precious treasures of this land, which I was destined to lose.
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“A Wish, A Witch, and the Tarot”
All the cards do–I say as if it’s a small thing–is show you yourself.
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A Rendezvous with the Censor: Notes and a Translation of Jaroslav Hašek
The newspapers are, sir, blight, disorder of the first order, just like everything that’s printed; but I tread all over it.
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Why Eastern European Women’s Sexual Pleasure Is Their Own Business and Other Arguments for Intersectional Socialism
We were not duped by capitalism and didn’t desire
exploitation, and a lot of us saw Western consumerism as both shallow and wasteful. It’s more because of our poverty and powerlessness than our intelligence that in the end all we got in Eastern Europe was neoliberal capitalism. After all, even American citizens, empowered, enlightened individuals, have been unable to stop its ruthless progress.
On Patriotism
neighborhood, our village, our town, our state, our history, our beaches, our apples, our army… are mightier, prettier, tastier, richer, more meaningful, more special, more courageous than those of the rest of the world.