Category Archives: Pop Culture

A Problem with Privilege

Posted on November 11, 2019 by admin

Attorneys regularly counsel against asking witnesses questions on the stand when they don’t know how they’ll answer. Thank goodness I’ve never had to run a classroom that way. When I asked my 9:00 UE I section if they perceived any … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Politics, Pop Culture | 15 Comments

Brick and Mortar Purgatory

Posted on November 5, 2019 by admin

Everyone likes a vibrant Main Street. Whether you’re in Columbus, Oxford, Starkville, Natchitoches, New Orleans–wherever–people enjoy shopping in boutiques where they get treated well, especially if they can prop their feet up in a good restaurant or cafe afterwards. I’ll … Continue reading →

Posted in Pop Culture | 21 Comments

The Shelter

Posted on October 31, 2019 by admin

                Nuclear warfare—it isn’t pretty, and it isn’t quite as thorough as everyone thought it would be. Eleven people and an infant somehow manage to find a bomb shelter six miles out of Columbus, somewhere near the ruins of Waverly … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Politics, Pop Culture | 7 Comments

People are People

Posted on October 23, 2019 by admin

The cover article in this month’s edition of Harper’s, “Manhood in the Age of #MeToo,” stimulated more than a little interest when I got it out of the mailbox. In it, Barrett Swanson attends an Evryman retreat to test whether … Continue reading →

Posted in Gender Issues, Pop Culture | 6 Comments

Elbow Room

Posted on January 23, 2019 by Thomas_Easterling

According to the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, a conservative think-tank, the state population experienced a modest decline last year–just over three thousand residents. Louisiana experienced an even greater decline, while all our other neighbors saw population increases. The article … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Politics, Pop Culture | 27 Comments

What’s N a Word?

Posted on January 16, 2019 by Thomas_Easterling

Last week, while reading a passage from Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes, I saw a student’s jaw drop out of the corner of my eye. “Dr. E,” she said when I completed the passage. “You used the hard -er.” I had indeed. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Pop Culture, Race in Mississippi | 33 Comments

The New Un-Civility

Posted on September 5, 2018 by Thomas_Easterling

Most of us with any home training wince when we reflect on the kinds of things Donald Trump has said about women, immigrants, the FBI–about anybody who isn’t Donald Trump, or a current Trump sycophant. Part of the reason some … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Pop Culture | 9 Comments

Honey and Vinegar

Posted on August 13, 2018 by Thomas_Easterling

A dozen years ago, I signed my oldest child up for rec soccer. I also volunteered to coach, and I was stunned to find out that the league required no training for referees, and that it required teams to have … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Pop Culture | 25 Comments

Eternal Optimism

Posted on May 7, 2018 by Thomas_Easterling

My friends Deb and Jim Fallows have a new book coming out tomorrow: Our Towns: A 100,000 Mile Journey into the Heart of America looks at cities around the country that have rebounded after devastating plant closings and the like. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in National Politics, Pop Culture | 6 Comments

And now for something completely different. . .

Posted on May 3, 2018 by Thomas_Easterling

A student request: I was wondering if you could make a blog post about how Kanye West lost all of his followers (around 9.2 million) in a matter of minutes due to the fact he posted a picture in a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Pop Culture | 19 Comments