By Jim Heffernan Very often, I’ll start a book review with only a vague idea of what attracted me to the book. Not so with this book, I read an excellent op-ed…
Category: I’ve been thinking
I’VE BEEN THINKING … Mr. Peabody’s WABAC Machine
By Jim Heffernan I sure find the world we live in to be very confusing, maybe I’m just old. I’ve always had a reverent view of “truth” but in present-day America, everybody…
BOOK REVIEW: The Age of American Unreason by Susan Jacoby
By Jim Heffernan I think I was attracted to this book by the concept of “The Age of American Unreason”, such an apt description of our times. Once I started reading it,…
I’VE BEEN THINKING …. About the Republican Party
By Jim Heffernan I just can’t help it, I’ve been thinking a lot about the Republican party. I grew up in a household that venerated Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman and barely…
I’VE BEEN THINKING … Truth, Justice and the American Way
By Jim Heffernan Oddly enough, I’ve been thinking of Superman. I grew up in the 1950’s inspired by Superman’s motto, “Truth, Justice, and the American way”. I did not comprehend then that…
I’VE BEEN THINKING: Where did Pennsylvania go?
By Jim Heffernan I’ve been thinking a lot about what a strange world we seem to be living in. I imagine myself and my wife sitting at the dinner table and I…
I’VE BEEN THINKING: STRUCTURAL AMNESIA
By Jim Heffernan I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the term “structural amnesia”. I first encountered the term in Arlie Hochschild’s excellent book, “Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning…
BOOK REVIEW: “The Persuaders” by Anand Giridharadas – A VERY GOOD BOOK!
By Jim Heffernan I was attracted to this book by the idea of persuasion. So much of our political discourse these days is not devoted to persuasion at all. Today, it seems…
BOOK REVIEW: The Story of the American Dream – Ours Was the Shining Future by David Leonhardt
By Jim Heffernan I was attracted to this book because of the author and the topic. David Leonhardt is a Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for the New York Times I’ve read for…
I’ve Been Thinking … Too Old?
By Jim Heffernan Maybe it’s because I’m elderly myself, but I’ve been thinking a lot about the buzz about Joe Biden’s age. Trump is a week older than me and Biden is…