09.26.12 The Jews in Poland and Russia Antony Polonsky’s The Jews in Poland and Russia is a stupendous — almost crushing — work of scholarship.
09.29.12 Sodom and Gomorrah I first read A la Recherche du Temps Perdus in the summer I turned 17, and I have to say, it scared the hell out of me.
10.27.12 Buying a Bridge Monopoly From a Canadian point of view, the most important vote to occur November 6 is not the vote for president of the United States.
11.04.12 The Captive The Captive is the most disturbing of all the volumes in Remembrance of Things Past. It weirded me out when I first read it as a teenager, and it weirds me out even more now.
11.07.12 America’s Voting System Is a Disgrace When the polls close in most other democracies, the results are known almost instantly.
12.10.12 Drug industry’s free speech helps doctors Red wine in moderation has been shown to reduce the risks of heart disease. Enjoy a glass with dinner tonight.
12.11.12 The Lincoln-Douglas Debates If Spielberg’s Lincoln whetted your appetite for re-enactment of Civil War politics, let me recommend an audiobook I listened to last month.
12.15.12 The Real Story of Hanukkah The canonically approved story of Hanukkah is an exceedingly strange one.
12.16.12 American Fantasies That Lead to Massacre After a horrific massacre such as the one in Newtown, Connecticut, the word “senseless” gets a lively airing.