cultural commentary Archives - Page 7 of 7

Slouching Toward Diligence Day

Boy, do I sound bah-humbug already. You know, maybe what I need—maybe what we all could use—is a nice fresh start. Something completely different to perk us all up and bring back the magic. How about some entirely new holidays?

Debra RienstraNovember 17, 2012

cultural commentary

Get Off My Lawn, Thou Knave

By an odd coincidence, the late William Hazlitt has been haunting my steps this week. The old gent showed up by previous arrangement in my creative nonfiction class, as the syllabus called for my students to read his essay titled “On the Pleasure of Hating.”

Debra RienstraOctober 6, 2012

college life cultural commentary

Cruise Ship College

Hundreds of majors, access to professors, research opportunities, really awesome sports, a zillion student organizations—everyone seems to have it all. Beautiful, diverse students and beautiful, historic (or perhaps LEEDS-certified) buildings on rolling, umpteen-hundred-acre campuses. Honestly, it’s hard to imagine that my son wouldn’t just thrive…

Debra RienstraSeptember 22, 2012

college life cultural commentary silly

My Summer Vacation: A Report

“How was your summer?” was the obvious lead-in to conversations, a question I’m never sure how to answer. And then, it struck me…

Debra RienstraAugust 25, 2012

cultural commentary

Yes!

Well, with the summer Olympics under way, here we go again. How do we celebrate women athletes without sexualizing them? I’m not sure we’re much closer to answers than we were thirteen years ago.

Debra RienstraJuly 27, 2012

cultural commentary memoir

I Was a Christian Camp Dropout

I wasn’t a great swimmer, I had never shot a bow or paddled a canoe, and lights-out readings of The Giving Tree didn’t impress me even at the innocent age of almost-ten. Meanwhile, it seemed as if everyone else had inherited camp-related skills from their…

Debra RienstraJune 16, 2012

cultural commentary pop culture review

Desire and Its Discontents

After all, this is a show about advertising, the industry that trades on desire—evoking it, creating it, exploiting it.

Debra RienstraJune 1, 2012

cultural commentary silly

Back in My Day, We Just Didn’t Know Stuff

I admit there’s something romantic about wood stoves and typewriters and horse-drawn carriages and other technologies of the past. For about ten minutes. Then, get me back to my central heating, my laptop, and my minivan. And definitely, definitely: give me the internet. There’s nothing…

Debra RienstraMarch 23, 2012