JOSHUA B. LIPSON
Real Issues
And as irresponsible as it would be for me to dismiss questions about social security’s long-term solvency and the appropriate federal response to gun violence, I cannot sit by as members of the political class laugh away issues of sustainability, psychedelic research, intellectual property, human enhancement, and geoengineering as matters of the apolitical long-term.
Right, Meet Left
Living among the liberals, I can begin by dispelling one particularly stubborn conservative myth: that liberals hate capitalism, the American way of life, and—most incongruously—freedom of choice.
Why J Street?
I come to J Street not out of Jewish weakness, but rather out of studied political realism and contact with the human side of Palestinian statelessness
The Art of the True Crime Show
But the art of the true crime show is not made by verisimilitude alone. As for anything moving and yet tasteful, there exists a careful method to crafting just the right true crime segment, as defined chiefly by its images.
Iraq: The Deception at a Decade
Although nothing of a cheerleader for Obama administration foreign policy, I could not help but writhe with contempt over Beck’s newest outburst of on-air mania.
Beautify Harvard!
Styles might very well change over the years, but there exists an objective pale that we ought never to cross.
Mind the Seams
Career portals and dating sites flourish precisely because they work—not by replacing human intuition and pattern recognition, but by broadening our horizons and suggesting opportunities that might have been lost in the welter of our modern minds.
Roundtable: Should Governments Negotiate With Terrorists?
It is unfortunate that the question of whether to negotiate with designated terrorists often comes up at moments of crisis, when governments are at their lowest point of leverage.
On Living Forever
Call it unnatural, but human ingenuity has done away with scourge after scourge, each once understood as a meaningful, natural, part of life’s universal rhythm.
Living World Music
In short, I’m hung up on world music because it allows me to be more human.
White Israelis, Brown Palestinians
The daunting challenges we face are political, military, and economic in nature. To invent a racial dimension blows open an additional chasm between our peoples, setting back the enterprise of coexistence yet another step.
For Gary Johnson
For me, there will be no post-electoral bliss. I am voting for Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate for president—a former governor of New Mexico who is just as accomplished as he is unassuming. More, he is absolutely certain to lose.
A Baffling Caricature
As an adamantly secular Jew, I have only ever felt welcome at Harvard Hillel, a sentiment shared by everyone with whom I’ve spoken—secular, religious, or otherwise.
An Insectivore’s Manifesto
Compared to the world’s present-day animal agriculture industry, an entomophagous society would be both more efficient and ecologically sounder. High in protein and low in fat, insects could both save the poor from the brink of starvation and save the rich from diseases engendered by a high-fat diet.
Morons and Sam Baciles
It is easy to make sweeping, millenarian statements about Islam and Middle East foreign policy when you don’t have any skin in the game: no matter how hot things get on the street in Benghazi, Cairo, or East Jerusalem, Terry Jones and the South Carolina Republican Party will be just fine.
