Mike Pilewski writes about life, politics and culture in the United States
The best way to learn a foreign language is to practice it with somebody. It was a pen pal in Bremen who helped me to learn German as it’s actually used and who told me about everyday life in his country. In what may have been an early version of this column, I did the same for him. In the … >>
Well, the people have spoken. Barack Obama had wanted to wait another week to give his State of the Union speech, but they wouldn’t let him. It would have delayed the season premiere of Lost. So he gave it last night instead, while the reruns were still on. For the first half hour or so, I even thought Obama’s speech … >>
Two weeks ago, on October 29, the US officially became the fourth G-7 nation, after Germany, Japan and France, to come out of recession. After shrinking for a year, the US economy grew at an annual rate of 3.5 percent during the third quarter of 2009. That was great news. The Guardian described Britain’s envy at what was partly the … >>
When we were schoolkids, our teachers loved to tell us a little white lie: that anybody in America could grow up to be president. We didn’t believe them, because they couldn’t name any female or black presidents. However, we did believe George W. Bush in 2001, when he told students graduating from Yale University: “To those of you who received … >>
It all seemed too much to ask: choosing the home city of an American president as the location of the Olympics, at a time when that president, if re-elected, would still be in office. Barack and Michelle Obama went all the way to Copenhagen to personally make the case for “Chicago 2016” to the International Olympic Committee. But their city … >>
For most of August, America’s representatives in Congress were back in their home states, meeting with their constituents. Many of these voters were angry because of plans to reform the health-care system. “This is about the dismantling of this country,” one woman shouted at Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter. “We don’t want this country to turn into Russia!” A woman carrying … >>
If you don’t know how many states are in the United States, here’s an easy way to remember. This Friday marks exactly 50 years since America added its final, 50th, state: Hawaii. The country was ready: the growing availability of air travel in the 1960s made Hawaii a popular vacation spot for those who could afford it. Those who couldn’t … >>
Last Thursday, one day before adjourning for its summer recess, the US Senate agreed that Sonia Sotomayor could take the vacant seat on the Supreme Court. Sotomayor, whom Barack Obama nominated in late May, is the third female Supreme Court justice in history and is considered the first Hispanic. Sotomayor had been questioned by the Senate for the entire month … >>
If Barack Obama had told me he was going to Ghana, I would have warned him. The country is a dump — parts of it quite literally. In the late 1990s, I knew it as a place where very little functioned as it should have. The currency was worthless. Families often had 10 or even 14 children. Garbage was simply … >>
Going to a gym has many obvious benefits, but also some that are not obvious. For example, at my gym you can watch six television screens, each showing a different channel, at the same time. It’s something I can’t do at home. So there I was the other night, dividing my attention between news reports about Iran and my favorite … >>