I found the NATO piece surprisingly compelling....do I actually gotta hand it to the Trump administration on this one? Maybe? Though not so much on making Ukraine beg for aid.
Agreed on the Kang piece, his takeaway at the end was just classic Kang (contrarian, at first seems to have a point but then the more I chew on it the more it just seems lazy and a bit reactionary). I wound up skimming it and that felt like plenty. The expose book "Play Their Hearts Out" was a great look at AAU ball and all the bad things that go with it. It would make sense that the kids of athletes are some of the few who can pay to play but also afford good training and build some better habits from the start (and have the profile to already be A Name that people will notice).
I also enjoyed the Mutter piece, especially the bits about Mutter himself (gotta love a guy who pretentiously adds an umlaut to his name and annoys his co-workers by incessantly talking about how the French are far superior at plastic surgery). It is very Philly somehow, and I do think a Mutter with too much context (a too-woke Mutter) just doesn't work. Also really interesting to think about the modern frame of consent on 1800s lives. To be honest it kind of reminded me of the sometimes charming New York niche institution pieces, but just for Philly.
I found the NATO piece surprisingly compelling....do I actually gotta hand it to the Trump administration on this one? Maybe? Though not so much on making Ukraine beg for aid.
Agreed on the Kang piece, his takeaway at the end was just classic Kang (contrarian, at first seems to have a point but then the more I chew on it the more it just seems lazy and a bit reactionary). I wound up skimming it and that felt like plenty. The expose book "Play Their Hearts Out" was a great look at AAU ball and all the bad things that go with it. It would make sense that the kids of athletes are some of the few who can pay to play but also afford good training and build some better habits from the start (and have the profile to already be A Name that people will notice).
I also enjoyed the Mutter piece, especially the bits about Mutter himself (gotta love a guy who pretentiously adds an umlaut to his name and annoys his co-workers by incessantly talking about how the French are far superior at plastic surgery). It is very Philly somehow, and I do think a Mutter with too much context (a too-woke Mutter) just doesn't work. Also really interesting to think about the modern frame of consent on 1800s lives. To be honest it kind of reminded me of the sometimes charming New York niche institution pieces, but just for Philly.