The Genius of Franklin

The United States’ Office of the Historian “Milestones” webpage “1776–1783: Diplomacy and the American Revolution” devotes one of its eight sections to Benjamin Franklin, “the most distinguished scientific and literary American of the colonial era” and “the first American diplomat.” Continue Reading...

The Immeasurable Value of One Life

His name will never be as widely recognized as it ought to be, but Nicholas Winton is one of the authentic heroes of the last century. Born in 1909 in Hampstead, London, Winton’s parents were Jewish, but he was brought up in the Church of England. Continue Reading...

A Christian Nationalist on Every Corner?

There are two vital questions that need to be answered in the debate around Christian nationalism. First, is it a problem? Second, how concerned should we be? The answers given by the documentary God and Country (co-produced by actor-director Rob Reiner) are “Yes” and “Very.” Continue Reading...

3 Body Problem Has Always Been Our Problem

My bad. When I was asked to write a review of Netflix’s 3 Body Problem, I assumed we had entered a new stage in the gender wars. Having successfully worked around my undergraduate physical science requirement by taking a January-term class on Einstein and writing a paper on his philosophical ideas, I trust I’m forgiven for not knowing that the “three-body problem” refers to an unsolvable problem in physics. Continue Reading...

Ripley and the Art of the Cruel

Patricia Highsmith’s novels have a long history in Hollywood. Her debut, Strangers on a Train, was adapted in 1951 by Hitchcock into a remarkable thriller about corruption among the wealthy and the weaknesses of aspiring to success, with D.C. Continue Reading...