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☆ Opinion | PEN America Has Stood By Authors. They Should Stand By PEN.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-28 | by ( Pamela Paul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

But too often, recent efforts to reform institutions have meant reconstituting them in ways that distort or fundamentally undermine their core mission. Nonprofit organizations, governmental agencies, university departments and cultural institutions have ousted leaders and sent their staffs into turmoil in pursuit of progressive political goals. The latest target is PEN America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to free expression by journalists and authors. This followed a refusal by several writers to have their work considered for PEN’s annual literary awards. According to its 21 signatories, mostly up-and-coming authors, “among writers of conscience, there is no disagreement.

Persons: George Floyd, Salman Rushdie, PEN’s, Suzanne Nossel, Jennifer Finney Boylan, ” Organizations: Nonprofit, PEN America, PEN Locations: Gaza, Israel

☆ Opinion | You’ve Been Wronged. That Doesn’t Make You Right.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Pamela Paul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

No matter who you are or what your politics, whatever your ethnic origin, economic circumstance, family history or mental health status, chances are you have ample reason to be ticked off. If you’re on the left, you have been oppressed, denied, marginalized, silenced, erased, pained, underrepresented, underresourced, traumatized, harmed and hurt. If you’re on the right, you’ve been ignored, overlooked, demeaned, underestimated, shouted down, maligned, caricatured and despised; in Trumpspeak: wronged and betrayed. What was Jan. 6 at heart but a gigantic tantrum by those who felt they’d been cheated and would take back their due, by whatever means necessary? Nor has the urge to leverage powerlessness as a form of power felt quite so universal — more pervasive on the left, if considerably more threatening on the right.

Persons: you’ve, they’d, it’s

☆ Opinion | Let Young People Live With Strangers
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Pamela Paul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

And now is the time of year when many kids, just accepted into college, decide they won’t do it. Their intermittent snores, the way they hum while cleaning or just miss the trash can when flinging dirty tissues. But forcing kids from widely diverging backgrounds, ethnicities and economic classes to live in close quarters is one of the benefits of a residential college. It can produce terrible conflict, but that, too, is essential to preparing young people for the world. Or they use a campus matching service like RoomSync or StarRez, which schools can license and tailor to their needs.

Persons: It’s

☆ Opinion | A Moment of Unity, on Earth as in Space
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-08 | by ( Pamela Paul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For a phenomenon that traversed the country from the contentious southern border to the far reaches of New England, Monday’s eclipse attracted remarkably few conspiracy theories or accusations. From where I stood, in Buffalo, the major threat to the moment was a forecast of heavy clouds. Perhaps I was too primed to seek meaning, having found unexpected significance in the last major eclipse to cross the country, back on Aug. 21, 2017. I wanted mountains, rock structures, landscapes and vistas that would give me that sense of This Too Shall Pass, and the planet will still be around. We decided to spend 10 days in South Dakota, starting at Mount Rushmore and ending in the Badlands.

Persons: Donald Trump’s Organizations: Trump, Mount Locations: New England, Buffalo, America, South Dakota

☆ Opinion | Wes Moore’s Big Experiment for Maryland
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Pamela Paul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Taking a gap year, or devoting a year to public service, whether to develop yourself or to serve a higher purpose, can be very alluring and, just as often, very impractical: How do you find the right opportunity, or fit it into your life, and most of all, swing it financially? Wes Moore of Maryland is trying to find a way to make it work for more people. One of the centerpieces of his administration is the newly established Department of Service and Civic Innovation, which includes a public service program with two arms, the Service Year Option, for Maryland residents within three years of high school graduation, and Maryland Corps, which is open to a range of applicants. Each provides access to entry-level positions at nonprofits and state agencies, as well as a small number of businesses with a strong service component, such as public health or community development. Participants are paid a minimum of $15 per hour and provided help with transportation and child care, which could otherwise keep out those with fewer support systems.

Persons: Wes Moore, Francis Scott Key, that’s, Moore Organizations: Gov, of Service, Civic, Maryland Corps Locations: Maryland, Baltimore

☆ Opinion | Is Threads the Good Place?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-28 | by ( Pamela Paul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Once upon a time on social media, the nicest app of them all, Instagram, home to animal bloopers and filtered selfies, established a land called Threads, a hospitable alternative to the cursed X, Formerly Known as Twitter. The good people of X tried to flee, scattering to the hinterlands of Mastodon and Bluesky, whose distant confines they then complained about on X. It would be Twitter But Nice, a Good Place where X’s liberal exiles could gather around for a free exchange of ideas and maybe even a bit of that 2012 Twitter magic — the goofy memes, the insider riffing, the meeting of new online friends. With many key functions still in development, Threads even had a pleasingly lo-fi ambience. I joined Threads shortly after its July 5 debut as an observer (having fled Twitter well before it X-ed itself out).

Persons: X, Musk, Donald Trump, Kanye West, Andrew Tate, ” Organizations: Kanye, Twitter, IRL

☆ Opinion | The Real Royal Scandal Is on Us
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( Pamela Paul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Americans have always loved a royal scandal, even a smidgen more than British royalists do themselves. Lately, however, the British royals have been given the same reality-star treatment every microcelebrity in America attracts. Prince Andrew’s close ties with the since convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his own accusations of sexual abuse. And a massively popular Netflix series swanned in, dramatizing these and other ignoble ordeals, ready to sully the gleam before watchful eyes. In January, Catherine, Princess of Wales, as she is officially known, stepped back from royal duties with a dissatisfyingly vague and brief announcement from Kensington Palace.

Persons: Duke, Windsor’s, Prince Charles’s, Diana’s, Prince Andrew’s, Jeffrey Epstein, sully, Kate Middleton’s, Catherine , Princess of Locations: British, America, Catherine , Princess of Wales, Kensington Palace

☆ Opinion | Universities Need to Stick to Their Mission
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Pamela Paul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For over a century, an understanding existed between American universities and the rest of the country. Universities educated the nation’s future citizens in whatever ways they saw fit. Their faculty determined what kind of research to carry out and how, with the understanding that innovation drives economic progress. “Politically, what society expects of us is to train citizens and provide economic mobility, and that has been the bedrock of political and economic support for universities. But if universities are not fulfilling these missions, and are seen as prioritizing other missions instead, that political bargain becomes very fragile.”

Persons: ”, Anna Grzymala, Busse, “ Organizations: Universities, Stanford

☆ Opinion | My Impeachable Offenses
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Pamela Paul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

There were the things I promised I would do or just repeatedly said I would do and then didn’t. It was I, for example, who issued the decree about making one’s bed. No one, I said, should leave the house without making the bed first. I could say “Don’t forget to make your bed!” several times in a single morning and occasionally into the afternoon — it didn’t make a whit of difference. It was on me to inspect the beds, to re-articulate the rules and if necessary, to ensure consequences were put in place in response to lapses.

Persons: It’s, Adm, William McRaven’s Organizations: U.S . Navy

☆ Opinion | The Debate Over Transgender Care and Detransitioning
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-10 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ms. Paul cites stories of detransitioners as if they are damning to the practice of gender-affirming care as a whole. Not all detransitioners regret their transition, and not all transgender people will medically transition. By writing this article, Ms. Paul further stigmatizes health care for transgender people. What we do know is that transgender youth are under attack across the nation. Texas’s attorney general, Ken Paxton, last month demanded records from providers outside his state to single out hospitals or clinics that have treated transgender youth from Texas.

Persons: Pamela Paul, Ms, Paul, Ken Paxton Locations: Netherlands, Texas

☆ Whoever Donald Trump Chooses as His Running Mate, Please Let It Not Be a Woman - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Pamela Paul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Whoever Donald Trump chooses as his running mate, please let it not be a woman. Perhaps you think it’s beside the point to worry over this. There’s also the very real prospect that should a 78-year-old Trump be re-elected, he may not complete his term. “It’s very clear he’s holding these open auditions like it’s ‘The Apprentice,’” Kurt Bardella, a Democratic strategist, said of Trump to The Guardian. They will all debase themselves and humiliate themselves and jockey for that spot.”

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, There’s, “, it’s, ’ ” Kurt Bardella, ” Organizations: Democratic, The Guardian

☆ Opinion | As Kids, They Thought They Were Trans. They No Longer Do.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Pamela Paul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Growing up in a relatively conservative community in Grand Rapids, Mich., Powell, like many teenagers, didn’t feel comfortable in her own skin. “I felt so detached from my body, and the way it was developing felt hostile to me,” Powell told me. Reading about transgender people online, Powell believed that the reason she didn’t feel comfortable in her body was that she was in the wrong body. She had a double mastectomy the summer before college, then went off as a transgender man named Grayson to Sarah Lawrence College, where she was paired with a male roommate on a men’s floor. At 5-foot-3, she felt she came across as a very effeminate gay man.

Persons: Grace Powell, Powell, didn’t, “, ” Powell, Grayson, Sarah Organizations: Reading, Sarah Lawrence College Locations: Grand Rapids, Mich

☆ Opinion | Does ‘Barbie’ Deserve All the Hype?
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-26 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

There, I Said It,” by Pamela Paul (column, Jan. 26):Ms. Paul has no sense of humor. It is a slight that Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie did not get Oscar nominations for best director and best actress. “Barbie” is not a “bad” movie, but you need a sense of humor to appreciate it. Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie deserved to be nominated. Felicia CarparelliChicagoTo the Editor:Thank you to Pamela Paul for her finely barbed Barbie breakdown, and for making it OK not to love-Love-LOVE!!

Persons: Barbie, Pamela Paul, Paul, Greta Gerwig, Margot Robbie, “ Barbie ”, Felicia Carparelli Locations: Hollywood, Felicia Carparelli Chicago

☆ Opinion | ‘Barbie’ Is Bad. There, I Said It.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-24 | by ( Pamela Paul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Critically and commercially, several movies did well, and only one of those successes took place within the Marvel cinematic universe. Is it safe now to call “Barbie” the outlier? After “Barbie” so buoyantly lifted box office figures, it also felt like a willful dismissal of the need to make Hollywood solvent after a season of hell. Disliking “Barbie” meant either dismissing the power of The Patriarchy or dismissing Modern Feminism. They despised its commercialism and dreaded the prospect of future films about Mattel properties like Barney and American Girl dolls.

Persons: “ Barbie, winsome, “ Barbie ”, “, Barney Organizations: Marvel, Mattel Locations: American

☆ Opinion | There’s a Bomb Under the Table
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Pamela Paul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Alfred Hitchcock explained the nature of cinematic terror with a story about the bomb under the table. People are sitting around a table having a mundane conversation about baseball when — boom! But what if, Hitchcock asked, we are shown beforehand that the bomb is there? “In these conditions this same innocuous conversation becomes fascinating because the public is participating in the secret,” Hitchcock explained to his fellow director François Truffaut. There’s a bomb!”“The conclusion,” Hitchcock said, “is that whenever possible the public must be informed.”I bring this up because we know there’s a bomb under the table — the threat of a second Donald Trump presidency.

Persons: Alfred Hitchcock, You’ve, Hitchcock, ” Hitchcock, François Truffaut, “, ”, Donald Trump Organizations: Trump

☆ Opinion | The Labels We Attach to Political Beliefs
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

To the Editor:Re “Progressives Aren’t Liberal,” by Pamela Paul (column, Nov. 17):Ms. Paul bemoans the failure of labels to accurately describe what a person’s beliefs are, in this case liberals. Labels allow a labeler to define us without the heavy lifting of critical thinking that truly informs who and what we are. In the end, we should applaud the failure of labels and encourage a deeper understanding of one another. Jonathan KarmelChicagoTo the Editor:Thank you so much for “Progressives Aren’t Liberal.” It was spot on! The talk show host Bill Maher has been saying for years that he is a classic liberal, but not at all like modern progressives.

Persons: ”, Pamela Paul, Paul bemoans, Jonathan Karmel Chicago, Bill Maher Organizations: Progressives Aren’t Liberal

☆ Opinion | When Students’ Cellphones ‘Colonize Their Minds’
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-19 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

To the Editor:Re “Kids Aren’t the Ones With the Cellphone Problem,” by Pamela Paul (column, Nov. 10):How ironic for Ms. Paul to suggest that we can “teach kids to be safe, responsible and independent” by taking away their access to a device that so many of their parents cling to throughout their days. It makes sense for schools to ban cellphone use during classroom time, as many already do, but how does removing access to cellphones outside the classroom benefit students? If schools really want to teach kids to be responsible and independent, they should have discussions with their students about which restrictions on their cellphone use can be beneficial academically, socially or personally, and which are unnecessary, or even counterproductive. Keith HolzmuellerEvanston, Ill.To the Editor:Try teaching a student whose boyfriend broke up with her via text between classes.

Persons: Pamela Paul, Paul, Keith Holzmueller Locations: Keith Holzmueller Evanston, Ill

☆ Opinion | Progressives Aren’t Liberal
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Pamela Paul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Remember when “liberal” was a dirty word? In a presidential primary debate in 2007, Hillary Clinton called herself instead a “modern progressive.” She avoided the term “liberal” again in 2016. But the way “liberal” is being used now is more confounding than ever. Never Trump conservatives tout their bona fides as liberals in the classical, 19th century sense of the word, in part to distinguish themselves from hard-right Trumpists. Others use “liberal” and “progressive” interchangeably, even as what progressivism means in practice today is often anything but liberal — or even progressive, for that matter.

Persons: ”, Ronald Reagan, Newt Gingrich’s, GOPAC, Hillary Clinton, Gallup pollsters, Trump

☆ Opinion | Why Is the Democratic Base Eroding?
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-12 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

To the Editor:Re “The Democrats Are Their Own Worst Enemies,” by Pamela Paul (column, Nov. 3), about why polls are showing a loss of support for the party among minorities and the working class:Ms. Paul writes that “the Democratic Party cannot win and America cannot flourish if it doesn’t prioritize the economic well-being of the American majority over the financial interests and cultural fixations of an elite minority.”That, she says, is the reason that “the Democratic Party’s reliable base — the working class, middle-class families, even Black and Latino Americans and other ethnic minorities — have veered toward the G.O.P.”Is she talking about the same G.O.P. that, under the former president, passed legislation that gave enormous tax breaks to the wealthiest in the country? Is she referring to G.O.P. legislators who now want to reduce funding for the I.R.S., an agency that serves as a watchdog against unfair tax manipulation that leaves the middle class with a proportionately greater tax burden than the richest? If so, it is hard to imagine that the G.O.P., as opposed to the Democratic Party, is prioritizing the economic well-being of the American majority.

Persons: Pamela Paul, Paul Organizations: Democratic Party, Democratic Locations: America

☆ Opinion | Banning Phones in School Is Hard. But It’s the Right Thing to Do.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Pamela Paul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The hardest rule I ever set for my kids was refusing them cellphones until high school. I’d seen the research on the doleful effects of social media, screens and surveillance parenting on kids’ mental, physical and cognitive well-being. Much as parents don’t want to admit it, we need — or it feels like we need — our kids to have a phone. Even in a school shooting, cellphones have as much potential for danger as they do for safety. We tell ourselves the phone will give our kids a sense of independence, even though phone trackers let us know exactly where they are.

Persons: I’d, don’t

☆ Opinion | The Democrats Are Their Own Worst Enemy
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Pamela Paul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

This should be the Democratic Party’s moment. Republican congressional behavior echoes that of an intemperate toddler and the party’s intellectual and ideological foundations have become completely unmoored. But far from dominant, the Democratic Party seems disconnected from the priorities, needs and values of many Americans. In a development that has baffled Democrats, a greater share of those groups voted for Republican candidates in recent elections. In 2004, Thomas Frank’s book asked, “What’s the Matter With Kansas?” Why, Frank wondered, did working- and middle-class Americans vote Republican when Democratic policies were more attuned to their needs?

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Joe Biden, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, Thomas Frank’s, “, Frank Organizations: Democratic, Democratic Party, Trump, Republican Locations: Kansas

☆ Opinion | Improving Treatments for Children With Cancer
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-28 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

To the Editor:Re “It Takes a Lifetime to Survive Childhood Cancer,” by Pamela Paul (column, Oct. 8):As an almost 20-year survivor of childhood cancer, I found Ms. Paul’s column striking in so many ways. Yet while my primary cancer was cured, defining success based on reaching a five-year survival mark is a poor way to capture the impact of the harsh treatments that pediatric cancer patients face. I consider myself lucky, but I still experience late side effects from my treatments, including double vision, hearing loss and now three meningiomas (noncancerous brain tumors). In addition to the points Ms. Paul made, diet is another important consideration in the care of survivors. As a recent nutrition epidemiology master’s degree recipient, I know that research shows the powerful impact of good nutrition in improving quality of life and reducing some late effects among cancer survivors.

Persons: Pamela Paul, Paul

☆ Opinion | Teaching Practical Skills Like Home Ec and Shop in School
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

Children need to do more physical and practical work at school, and schools need to integrate more movement into students’ routines. Attending Back to School Night at my son’s middle school, I was saddened to see that instruction is done mostly via large screens and that the students have no recess. My grandchildren would love the opportunity to experience the life skills that I was lucky enough to enjoy. And of course she taught sewing and cooking. Today’s students could surely benefit by learning practical life skills like home ec and shop.

Persons: Pamela Paul, Paul, I’ve, Joshi, Pamela Paul’s, Cindy Jenkins Plymouth, Roger Ramsey Buxton, “, Robin Weintraub Rochester Organizations: U.C.L.A Locations: Md, Roger Ramsey Buxton , Maine, Los Angeles, N.Y

☆ Opinion | Taking Sides in a War Shouldn’t Mean Taking Sides on Literature
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Pamela Paul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Last week the literary association Litprom canceled a celebration for the Palestinian author Adania Shibli’s book “Minor Detail” at the Frankfurt Book Fair, one of the publishing world’s biggest international book fairs. A panel that Shibli, who splits her time between Jerusalem and Berlin, was to be on with her German translator, Günther Orth, was likewise canceled. Others may side with Hamas or with the Palestinian people, now under fire by Israeli forces. But taking a side in a war does not require taking positions on a work of fiction — no matter the subject matter or the author’s nationality — and that is the effect of the fair organizers’ decision. Canceling a celebration of an author may not be the same thing as banning a book, but the organizers’ decision amounts to demonizing a fiction writer and stifling her viewpoint.

Persons: Litprom, Adania, International Booker, Günther Orth, “, Israel ”, Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu’s Organizations: International Locations: Frankfurt, Jerusalem, Berlin, Israel, Palestinian

All eyes are on Donald Trump’s top rivals ahead of Wednesday night’s second G.O.P. And according to the Opinion columnist Pamela Paul, it is a disappointing lineup — Nikki Haley especially. Paul argues that Haley is not the moderate anti-Trump alternative she is touted to be. But rather, is an opportunist, pandering to both sides and lacking “a core philosophy and a commitment.” As a candidate, she promises to bring back the old Reagan-esque Republican values, but Paul believes that Haley is a hypocrite whose loyalty resides exclusively with her personal agenda. (A full transcript of this audio essay will be available midday on the Times website.)

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Pamela Paul, Nikki Haley, Paul, Haley Organizations: Trump, Reagan, Times

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