It’s still many years from appearing on the menu of your local burger joint, but the first lab-grown patty debuted this summer and it has generated some meaty discourse. Science journalist Marta Zaraska contributes to the debate in this August 2013 essay in The Atlantic. Read it here: Zaraska, "Is Lab-Grown Meat Good for Us?" …
Continue reading A Sizzling Debate: Marta Zaraska on Lab-Grown Meats
Major League Baseball is on the verge of giving instant replays a greater role in the game. Will the proposed new rules bring satisfying precision or will they undermine the passionate arguments and “human element” that contribute to baseball’s greatness? Christian Science Monitor staff writer Harry Bruinius weighs in on the question in this August …
Continue reading A Sport About Going Home: Bruinius on Baseball and Instant Replay
It’s hard to let go of the American Dream; in fact, nobody does. Nevertheless, few people would disagree with the observation that the Dream is much harder to achieve than it used to be. There is plenty of debate, however, about what is causing the obstacles and delays. Economist and financial journalist Stewart Lansley examines …
Continue reading Still Deferred: Stewart Lansley on the American Dream
James Atlas admits to binge watching “Breaking Bad” and wrestles with his own ambivalence about doing so. This New York Times essay appeared during Season 5—that is, in May 2013. Read it here: Atlas, “Get a life? No, thanks. Just pass the remote.” As Atlas notes, the show’s use of suspense is a key factor of …
Continue reading Bingeing on “Bad”: James Atlas on TV and Life
Have you ever been catfished? Has the Internet opened up your social life, or has it enclosed you in a tight circle of people you already know? Adrian Chen examines social life and social media in this February 2013 essay from New Inquiry. Read it here: Chen, "Don't Be a Stranger" Chen mentions the ideas of …
Continue reading Friended and Poked: Adrian Chen on Social Media
Spring is here, and the pundits are correct: a major league professional athlete has come out as gay. NBA free agent Jason Collins has broken a formidable barrier in this Sports Illustrated article that appears in May 2013. Read it here: Collins, "Why NBA Center Jason Collins Is Coming Out Now" According to this first …
Continue reading Time, Out: Jason Collins on Being a Gay NBA Player
As sure as cold breezes and April blossoms on Opening Day, someone will remind us that Major League Baseball is in trouble. Ian Crouch steps up to the plate this year with this April 2013 essay from the New Yorker. Read it here: Crouch, “A-Rod, the Astros, and Austerity” Mentioning A-Rod, the Astros, and austerity in …
Continue reading Bringing His A Game: Ian Crouch on A-Rod, the Astros, and Austerity
Gulp. That’s how some have responded to New York City’s audacious ban on super-size sodas. Food writer Mark Bittman weighs in on this heavy debate in a New York Times editorial published in March, 2013. Read it here: Bittman, "Banning the Big Gulp Ban" Do you drink sweet carbonated beverages (known regionally as soda, pop, …
Continue reading “Vectors of Disease”: Mark Bittman on the New York City Big Gulp Ban
Online courses are a topic of hot debate, with schools large and small, public and private, hurrying to develop programs and establish themselves in this new educational frontier. Are they moving in the right directions? Are they making decisions that take student needs into consideration? This New York Times editorial published in February 2013 begins …
Continue reading Is It Still School?: The New York Times on Online Courses
Just how deep does the problem of football concussions go? Can we fix it with better helmets or rule changes? James Carroll delves much deeper and puts the whole nation on the line of scrimmage in this January 2013 column from the Boston Globe. Read it here: Carroll, "Football Concussions: The Problem Lies at the …
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