Originalists and non-originalists agree that constitutional interpretation must begin with the text of the document. But originalists pretend that their method of interpretation is value-free. “This desire for value-neutral judging is an impossible quest. Balancing of competing interests is inescapable." - LA Review of Books
While many commentators at the beginning of the pandemic endorsed reading as a straightforward way to relax, our readers showed that the practice morphed and took on new forms and meanings. - The Conversation
The essay, in particular the undergraduate essay, has been the center of humanistic pedagogy for generations. It is the way we teach children how to research, think, and write. That entire tradition is about to be disrupted from the ground up. - The Atlantic
"'Surely the part of my brain that I used to read with shut down at the same time as my sight?' asks Red Szell in this video. (He) lost his sight several years ago due to Retinitis pigmentosa – and ... earlier this year, Szell decided to learn Braille, with unexpected results." - BBC
"Reviews were often pitched at nonspecialist general interest readers. ... To come to Eliot's poem with a few platitudes about decency, intelligibility, and ease of access to poetic chestnuts was to be brutally confronted with something not only unknown but perilously close to the unknowable." - Literary Hub
As the head of the largest publisher in the country, Markus Dohle oversaw the attempted acquisition of Simon & Schuster, a deal the Justice Department sued to stop on antitrust grounds. - The New York Times
The selections: a word that describes 2022 entirely too well; an all-too-common behavioral M.O. these days; a now-overused term derived from a Hollywood movie; a color used to designate independent legislators; and a common American word that confused the rest of the world when it was the answer to Wordle. - BuzzFeed
The phonemes they lack, that is. "They're less likely than other words to include the consonant sounds L, R, W or Y. And more family-friendly versions of curses often have these sounds added." - The New York Times
The condemnation of the history of the American library, by its own gatekeepers, has done more than bring “Drag Queen Story Hour” to every children’s reading room. It has also upended the traditional role of the library as an organization primarily dedicated to the acquisition, preservation, and circulation of books. - New Criterion
Its short existence offers insight both into what is possible for a literary magazine to accomplish and into the tenuous place such publications occupy in the American publishing landscape. - The New York Times
"The brutal material horrors of the struggle, might make any cultural reading of the conflict seem fantastical or glib. But at its core, and from its origin, this Ukrainian conflict has been a war over language and identity. And Ukraine's libraries are the key." - The Observer (UK)
D. H. Lawrence's novel had been banned in Britain since it was first printed privately in 1928, but in 1960, Penguin UK published the first uncensored edition — and was promptly prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act of 1959. Perhaps no other trial in modern British history had such impact. - Esquire
“When you change from giving gifts to serfs or beggars to your kids and your spouse, you can’t just give them the stuff you already have in your household,." And in the early 1800s, books, which were typically quite expensive, fit this bill. - The New York Times
“Goblin mode” — a slang term referring to “a type of behavior which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations” — has been named Oxford’s 2022 Word of the Year. - The New York Times
Michel Martin's uncles in the military "wrote letters to each other promising to take care of their future families or their families, ... in this beautiful cursive handwriting. And it never occurred to me that my children might not be able to read that." - NPR
