Tuesday, March 8, 2011
I ripped out this small Reuters item from the New York Times on February 15, as a reminder that freedom of speech isn’t to be taken for granted: Syria: Teenage Blogger Sentenced to 5 Years A teenage blogger, brought into court chained and blindfolded, was sentenced Monday to five years in jail on charges of [...]
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Saturday, September 11, 2010
“The devil is in the details” normally means that the biggest challenges of a project are contained in its smaller elements. But I always think of the expression in relation to the personal stories told by or of the victims of catastrophic events. Such is particularly the case for me today, the anniversary of the [...]
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Friday, April 16, 2010
For this post, the fourth and final one on my favorite history book, A Distant Mirror: The Calamitious 14th Century by Barbara Tuchman, I wish I had a deep-voiced television announcer to say, “Previously on Wendy Brandes Jewelry …” and give a summary of the three preceding posts. Since I don’t have that guy, I’ll [...]
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Friday, September 11, 2009
I’m giving you reruns today: Laughing While Crying 9/14/01 September 11 Is Here Again UPDATED TO ADD: I always think of the other Wendy Brandes on this date. The other Wendy Brandes and I were at Columbia University at the same time. She was studying law and I was getting my undergraduate degree. I found [...]
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Tuesday, March 10, 2009
I was happy to see Kate Winslet win an Oscar last month for her performance in The Reader. Winslet on her winning night If you haven’t seen the movie, I recommend it. Based on a book by Bernhard Schlink and set in post-World War II Germany, The Reader is about a teenager who has a [...]
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Saturday, October 18, 2008
Of the Roman noblewoman Fulvia (wife of Marc Antony), the historian Plutarch wrote, “She was a woman who took no interest in spinning or managing a household, nor could she be content to rule a husband who had no ambition for public life: her desire was to govern those who governed or to command a [...]
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Wednesday, September 10, 2008
My last Book Club post took a lot out of me. In fact, Book Club posts always take a lot out of me. When I had drinks with my old friend Dave Kansas recently and was reminded that he majored in history, I realized I could interview him by email for a Book Club post, [...]
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Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Last week, I told you how my recent trip to Poland inspired me to read Sala’s Gift and The Lost, but I never got around to talking about the books themselves. I’ll rectify that now and, to thank you for your patience, I’ll throw in a number of bonus book suggestions as well. Sala Garncarz [...]
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