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Occupying More Space
As Occupy Wall Street spreads in its wondrous way (Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, Pittsburgh, Nevada City, California), journalists are reaching the conclusion that the story to report on is the lack of a...
View ArticleThanks for the Wisdom!
Everyone wants to jump onto the Occupy Wall Street wagon. Today’s New York Times: The Vatican called on Monday for an overhaul of the world’s financial systems, and again proposed establishment of a...
View ArticleHow Much Is That Euro Worth?
So one week ago, I’m at a dinner in Amsterdam and, inevitably, the topic of Greece and the euro comes up. A Dutch book editor goes into a tart little diatribe about how outrageous it is for Greeks to...
View ArticleGreek to Me
What’s it like to be living in an economy, and a country, that is imploding? That’s what I tried to get at in my story about life in Greece in this week’s New York Times Magazine. We have had endless...
View ArticleGreece and Greeks
The thing that jumped out at me in reader comments on my article in Sunday’s NYT Magazine about how Greeks are living in the midst of crisis, and in emails to me, was how much raw and ugly vituperation...
View ArticleAkin Aped in Europe
Lots of people in conservative America stand behind Rep. Todd Akin’s “legitimate rape” comments, as has been reported. But now he is being seconded by some politicians in the most liberal country on...
View ArticleBlank Slaters
As the third presidential debate looms, people are wondering how to process the fact that Mitt Romney got a big boost out of his performance in the first debate while President Obama did not get much...
View ArticleI Have Suffered Much
My latest Dutch discovery is Multatuli. For those who don’t speak Latin (“I have suffered much”), that is the histrionic pen name of Eduard Douwes Dekker, who in 2002 was declared by the Society for...
View ArticleWhat Nate Silver Doesn’t Know
One of the most reliable polls on the presidential race is also one of the least studied. It takes place not in Ohio, but in Paris. Harry’s Bar has picked nearly every winner since it started polling...
View ArticleThe Election, Seen from Amsterdam
While people were voting in the U.S., I was on a panel in Amsterdam that was part of the city’s huge American election extravaganza. First, I doubt that other foreign cities go to such lengths: every...
View ArticleDecoding the Decoder
Charles Gehring, translator of the Dutch records of the colony of New Netherland, thanks to whose work I was able to write my book “The Island at the Center of the World,” gets a fine profile in the...
View ArticleCloser to God
A new report details another wave of Catholic priests sexually abusing children. This time it’s Germany, and the report covers 1,165 victims. The new wave of information comes via a hotline that was...
View ArticleGod Bless the Irish
Following on my post of yesterday, about the likelihood of an assault-from-within in the Catholic church, it seems Ireland may lead the charge. Irish clergy have been among the most heinous of the...
View ArticlePutting Things in the Penis (as opposed to the other way around)
The current issue of “The Atlantic” has what is surely the most self-evident headline of the year so far: “The Problem with DIY Penis Implants.” In the vast category of incomprehensible things that...
View ArticleThe Catholic Church Must Be Defended
The recent release of 30,000 or so pages of documents detailing the cover-up of sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests in Los Angeles has brought the usual torrent of criticism of the church...
View ArticleCross to Bear
As Benedict becomes the first pope in six centuries to resign, it may be of interest to read the formal petition to the International Criminal Court, by the Survivors Network of Those Abused by...
View ArticleWhite Smoke
The most astute Italian Vaticanista, Sandro Magister, has come out with a prediction and a favorite candidate for the next pope. Actually, Magister has two candidates, and the remarkable thing is both...
View ArticleA Walk in Amsterdam
The Haarlemmerstraat in Amsterdam is a narrow enough thoroughfare that from my office window I can easily see into the shops across the street. There is the olive oil boutique, with its rows of metal...
View ArticleCatholic Whistleblowers
A group of priests, nuns and others in the Catholic church who say sexual abuse still continues.
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Kirkus – First Pre-Publication Review of “Amsterdam”…
AMSTERDAM [STARRED REVIEW!] A History of the World’s Most Liberal City Author: Russell Shorto Review Issue Date: August 1, 2013 Online Publish Date: July 15, 2013 Publisher:Doubleday Pages: 368 Price...
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