Mike Pilewski writes about life, politics and culture in the United States
Of all the villains in the world, Mu’ammer Gaddafi is the one I’ve liked best. That’s because he always follows through. He’s not only talked about a pan-Arab or pan-African union; he’s tried to create one — first by attempting to persuade his neighbors, then by trying to annex two of them. Gaddafi designed the Libyan flag himself: a solid … >>
Picture this: Last October, a group of American exchange students is walking through a pedestrian plaza in downtown Wiesbaden late at night. Suddenly, they’re approached by a gang of young ethnic Turks who don’t like the fact that one of the students is speaking English. “Hey!” the gang leader barks at him. “You’re American, aren’t you?” “Keep walking, Sam,” I … >>
This column was originally written for Spotlight Online. There’s a tradition at Spotlight Online: every afternoon, we take a short break and have a cup of tea with colleagues from our youth magazine, Spot on. We discuss our various travels and the news of the day, and exchange ideas that we can share with you, our readers. When the tragedy … >>
Suppose you have a persistent admirer. It doesn’t matter that you live in a different city. Nor does the fact that you don’t know her. She finds out where you live, which university you’re going to and which courses you’re taking, then signs up for the same ones. She travels across the country to live near you. She is driven … >>
Women with abusive husbands make all sorts of excuses for them: “He’s normally not like that.” “He’s sorry.” “He’s trying to change.” “He provides for me.” “I don’t have to worry about things.” “I’d never survive without him.” “There’s no alternative.” (Men can experience this, too, as the target of emotional abuse. The scars are on the inside.) We can’t … >>
This column was originally written for Spotlight Online. As some of you may know, I write the Replay section you hear on Spotlight Audio each month. We present the voices of people who have been in the news and explain the language they use. The language we use when giving background to recent events is just as important. A few … >>
I have to say the news hasn’t been good lately. In fact, it’s been so bad that only one thing can help. That thing is Auto-Tune. Auto-Tune is software that can correct anyone’s singing voice to give it perfect pitch. Music producers use it on a large percentage of pop and especially R&B singers, many of whom would seem rather … >>
There’s a problem to be solved, and we keep putting off a solution. Let me tell you: life is just going to get more complicated if we don’t do anything. I’m not talking about climate change or peak oil or teenage alcoholism. There’s something else that really affects every one of us. We need to decide how to refer to … >>
The first snow of the year fell in Munich on Monday — a month late — and road traffic came to a standstill. How humbling it is that forces of nature can still put a stop to normal human activity! And how much it says about the human spirit that we always try to fight these forces. The bus was … >>
As we give up more and more of our privacy online, it’s inevitable that our employers will become more and more interested in our private lives. But should they be able to control what we say? This question came up a week ago, when The Washington Post suspended one of its sports columnists, Mike Wise, for something he’d written on … >>