Mike Pilewski writes about life, politics and culture in the United States
Last week’s column was about designing cities of the future that would meet all the needs of their residents. But what about the cities of today? What do you do with a city that’s, say, 300 years old, that represents an important time in history, and that wants to be a modern place where people enjoy living? Philadelphia is an … >>
The popular culture of today’s youth has focused on witches, wizards, hobbits and comic-book superheroes long enough. It’s time for science to reclaim its role as a source of inspiration. There are signs that this is starting to happen: not just the popularity of the film Gravity, but the explosion in recent years of TV documentaries about science, and space … >>
There was a time when I could have been a consul or an ambassador. No joke. An American consul in Germany said I had the makings of a diplomat, and he tried hard to convince me to join the foreign service. It was a tempting offer: excellent pay, a high level of responsibility, and an opportunity to see the world. … >>
John F. Kennedy was America’s first Catholic president. But in order to become that, he had to reassure people that the White House wouldn’t be taking orders from the Vatican. Rick Santorum hopes to become the second Catholic president. Although he’s far more Catholic than Kennedy pretended to be, he won’t have to reassure anyone. In recent years, Catholics have … >>
Dear readers, I hope you can forgive me for abandoning two of my principles. The first is not to revisit a topic too soon after having written about it. I thought I was done with tornadoes, but they kept coming. After those in North Carolina, there was the one that destroyed the airport in St. Louis, Missouri. Then a major … >>
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 … >>
It seemed like one of those news stories that would come and go quickly — but the media and the politicians aren’t letting it die. Two weeks ago, the city of New York agreed to let a private organization build a $100 million mosque and Islamic community center in Manhattan. This in itself is nothing unusual. People from 190 countries … >>
Yes, I was an altar boy. No, I wasn’t abused. I was also a Boy Scout, and I wasn’t abused there either. Yet judging by all the scandals that have come out over the years, there must have been some potential for it. The European controversy over the Catholic church has again spilled over to the United States, and in … >>
On the day this article goes online, I won’t be at work. Nor will most Europeans, because it’s the Christian feast of the Ascension. Americans, on the other hand, will celebrate Memorial Day this same weekend (on Monday, May 25), a secular holiday remembering those who died in military service. In this respect, the two sides of the Atlantic could … >>