Art and I have a tumultuous relationship. While I like visiting museums and I have an appreciation for things hung on walls, my mind
Category: Literature/Arts/Film
Bibliophile’s dilemma: Finding new homes for used books
Here’s a riddle: What do books and corn have in common? The answer: overabundance. Reading Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma (which I snatched up
Family farm: A photojournalist’s archive
The 160-acre family farm is a thing of the past. While just 40 years ago, many square miles of the Iowa landscape were divided
Making the case for e-readers
When e-readers like Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes & Noble’s Nook hit the market, I have to admit to being less than thrilled. An avid
Navigating the waters of our biased culture
1. In a recent New Yorker article about actress Anna Faris, Tad Friend cites a test for gender bias in movies. The test, outlined
The White Tiger: fiction from India, cautionary tale for US
The White Tiger, the novel by Aravind Adiga which won the Man Booker Prize in 2008, has been described as black comedy and a
“An Unlikely Candidate” reflects on an unusual campaign
During the 2010 election cycle, Arthur Lieber ran for Congress in Missouri’s 2nd Congressional district. By percentages, Lieber lost badly to the heavily favored
De-funding imagination: a bad economic move
The biggest losers in the Congressional race to be the biggest spending-cutter could be imagination, creativity and ingenuity—elements that are essential to economic recovery
Can St. Louis get its groove back?
2011 is the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, an era in which St. Louis had grandiose ideas for itself. A
My Boy Jack, my boy George & political parables
My Boy Jack is a PBS historical drama that I stumbled upon [three years late!] over the New Year’s weekend. Based on a play