Mark Edmundson is University Professor in the Department of English at the University of Virginia. His books include Why Football Matters: My Education in the Game, Why Teach?, and Self and Soul: A Defense of Ideals.
A hangover is about being poisoned, no doubt. The toxins linger in the body and must be expelled, or waited out. We’re sick with a mini-flu and need to get better. But isn’t a hangover about more than physical toxins, at least some of the time?
Does the body still exist if we do not have souls?
We have become a nation and a people that simply cannot abide risks.
How does a contemporary humanities professor abet the pursuit of enjoyment?
When someone so much as touches a state vehicle, the wheels of justice begin to turn, and that’s that.
Once upon a time there was a publication that was doing all it could to tell a straight story and to listen to all sides.
A trick that only the most gifted demagogues can bring off.
A human spirit of community and kindness can be learned. But it can also be forgotten.
Dear friends: The man bounced a rubber ball for a living.
What’s up with us humans, us American humans, that we’re committing ourselves more and more to unbending postures?