Past Articles by Linton Weeks
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George W. Bush opens his presidential library this week in Dallas, where an interactive game gives visitors a taste of presidential decision-making. From one angle, Decision Points Theater is a cool learning tool. From another, it raises the question: Could an American president benefit from crowdsourcing? |
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George W. Bush opens his presidential library this week in Dallas, where an interactive game gives visitors a taste of presidential decision-making. From one angle, Decision Points Theater is a cool learning tool. From another, it raises the question: Could an American president benefit from crowdsourcing? |
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The bombing of Boston's storied marathon struck at more than a crowded city street — it attacked a living reservoir of American heritage, culture and intellectualism. |
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A Brief History Of Secret Recordings Sen. Mitch McConnell is the latest victim in what has become a tradition in American politics. We look back at some of the other politicians whose private dealings were made public. |
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A Brief History Of Secret Recordings Sen. Mitch McConnell is the latest victim in what has become a tradition in American politics. We look back at some of the other politicians whose private dealings were made public. |
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A Brief History Of Secret Recordings Sen. Mitch McConnell is the latest victim in what has become a tradition in American politics. We look back at some of the other politicians whose private dealings were made public. |
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Guns and America were born around the same time and grew up together. Columbus and other early explorers were probably the first Europeans to bring guns to the New World, archaeologists say. And the arquebus — a long-barreled, musket-like weapon — was most likely the first personal firearm on mainland America. |
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Maybe We Should Retire The Word 'Retire' The more talk there is of retirement — on TV, in pop-up ads, in news stories — the more you begin to wonder: What is retirement anymore anyway? |
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Maybe We Should Retire The Word 'Retire' The more talk there is of retirement — on TV, in pop-up ads, in news stories — the more you begin to wonder: What is retirement anymore anyway? |
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An Age Old Problem: Who Is 'Elderly'? The word itself has been around for centuries but only lately has it become an unpopular way to describe people who are old. |
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An Age-Old Problem: Who Is 'Elderly'? The word itself has been around for centuries, but only lately has it become an unpopular way to describe people who are old. |
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V Reasons To Love Roman Numerals If we didn't have a pope and we didn't have a Super Bowl, we might never use these fancy numbers at all. Then again, maybe we would. |
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5...4...3...2...1... We Have Sequestration The predetermined nature of the coming budget crisis known as sequestration is part of a long tradition of using countdowns as a way to manage chaos. |
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It's A Trap! 4 Possible Presidential Pitfalls President Obama has begun his second term with great momentum, but history warns that he will be challenged to sustain himself by forces all around — and within — him. |
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It's A Trap! 4 Possible Presidential Pitfalls President Obama has begun his second term with great momentum, but history warns that he will be challenged to sustain himself by forces all around — and within — him. |
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Rethinking The U.S. Presidency: 3 Alternative Realities The president of the United States has a lot on his plate. Is it too much? As we pause to celebrate our exceptional leaders on Presidents Day, perhaps it's time we start contemplating a new kind of presidency — a presidency that befits these fitful times. |
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Rethinking The U.S. Presidency: 3 Alternative Realities The president of the United States has a lot on his plate. Is it too much? As we pause to celebrate our exceptional leaders on Presidents Day, perhaps it's time we start contemplating a new kind of presidency — a presidency that befits these fitful times. |
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How To Pick A Pope (With Latin Subtitles) Cardinals, conclaves, ballots and smoke. Understanding what comes next when the Vatican needs to name a new pope to lead the Catholic Church. |
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How To Pick A Pope (With Latin Subtitles) Cardinals, conclaves, ballots and smoke. Understanding what comes next when the Vatican needs to name a new pope to lead the Catholic Church. |
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Eerie Echoes From The First State Of The Union What were the issues George Washington raised in the State of the Union address 223 years ago? Some of the same ones you're likely to hear from President Obama on Tuesday night. |
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Eerie Echoes From The First State Of The Union What were the issues George Washington raised in the State of the Union address 223 years ago? Some of the same ones you're likely to hear from President Obama on Tuesday night. |
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Are Shooting Ranges The New Bowling Alleys? Target practice is only part of the allure as gun ranges add restaurants, lounges and ladies' nights to create a social atmosphere to go along with the firearms training. |
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Forget 2016. The Pivotal Year In Politics May Be 2020 We already know demographic trends can drive election results, but what's surprising is how quickly the map could change for good. |
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Forget 2016. The Pivotal Year In Politics May Be 2020 We already know demographic trends can drive election results, but what's surprising is how quickly the map could change for good. |
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The truth about koalas (and athletes) shows what we already know: Not everything is what it seems to be. There are some fictions we are wiling to accept as fact. |
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For some Americans, next week's inauguration is a time to protest, not celebrate, the beginning of a second term for President Obama. |
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The Great American Signature Fades Away Jack Lew's unreadable signature — which could appear on new U.S. currency if he becomes Treasury secretary — raises a question: In our age of electronic communication and digital authentication, do signatures even matter anymore? |
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The Second Amendment: 27 Words, Endless Interpretations After more than 200 years of intense scrutiny, the meaning of the Second Amendment continues to baffle and elude. Maybe it would help to think about this complicated dictum in a more slant way, like a poet — through simile and metaphor. |
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A Lull Until New Year's? Not So These Days The week between Christmas and New Year's used to be a sleepy spot on the American calendar. Nowadays, it's crammed with people rushing around reminiscing with friends and families, returning presents and raking in gift-card booty. Others, even perhaps members of Congress, go straight back to work in this fiscal cliffhanger of a year. |
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When Someone You Know Loses A Child Nothing is enough to ease a parent's pain in losing a child, but simple gestures of kindness and concern are still welcome even in the depths of grief. |
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Table For One, Please. A Solo Thanksgiving Whether by choice or by circumstance, a lot of Americans are spending Thanksgiving alone. Some are too busy with work or school, or can't afford to travel. Others have family tensions or prefer to skip the dinner-table questions and bad jokes. A few are even crossing to Canada, where it's just another Thursday. |
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Do We Really Need A Second Inauguration? Post-election pomp and circumstance seem to be in our national DNA, but there have been some low-key inaugurals, including during the Great Depression and World War II. With a looming fiscal cliff, is this the time for a simple swearing-in ceremony on Jan. 21, rather than another megamillion-dollar blowout? |
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5 Foul-Ups In The Romney Campaign "No campaign is perfect," Mitt Romney said on Election Day. "Like any campaign, people can point to mistakes." And so here we are, as the election dust settles, asking seasoned political observers to do just that — point out a handful of foul-ups, fallacies and false steps in Romney's run. |
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5 Truisms About the 2012 Election ... That Weren't True A gloomy economy dooms the incumbent? Undecideds break toward the challenger? The tallest guy always wins? Not this time. |
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Nonvoters: The Other Abstinence Movement In an election where we're told every vote counts, a large swath of eligible Americans are not planning to vote early or late or at any time. For myriad reasons - cynicism, apathy, moral objections - some people are choosing to abstain. Here's what they told us. |
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Why The White House Glass Ceiling Remains Solid Despite all of the possible female candidates waiting in the wings, many political observers express doubt that a woman will be elected president - or even nominated - in the near future. Which is weird. Because in just about every other aspect of American life, women are taking over. |
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Pumps And Polls: Why Americans Wait In Lines You don't need the threat of a menacing storm like Hurricane Sandy to get folks in line. Look around - we line up to dance and dine, to buy tickets and the newest iPhone, and for the opportunity to cast an early ballot. |
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When A Robot Comes Knocking On The Door If a biomechanical breakthrough creates sentient machines, that could lead to some immediate moral quandaries for humans - and could push the debate about robot rights to the front burner. |
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Recognizing The Right Of Plants To Evolve Plants can sometimes exhibit human-like behavior - some respond to music, smell other plants or seem to shrink away when touched. In fact, some would argue that greenery is sensitive enough to deserve rights. |
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Championing Life And Liberty For Animals If attorney Steven Wise gets his way, next year could be a game changer for animal rights in America. The director of the Nonhuman Rights Project plans to file a series of lawsuits in hopes that a court will finally recognize that a nonhuman plaintiff can be a legal "person" in the eyes of the law. |
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Debates And Debauchery: Drinking Games In 2012 Where there are political rallies, there are protesting groups. Where there are campaign speeches, there are fact checking teams. And where there are presidential candidates' debates, there are drinking games. |
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Obama And Romney, Metaphorically Speaking If President Obama and Mitt Romney's were trees, what kind would they be? We consulted an arborist to find out. But why stop there? We talked to an architect, a pastry chef, a wine expert and a comic-strip writer for some more unconventional ways to think about the candidates. |
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October Surmise: Predicting The Next President Predicting a presidential winner is one of America's favorite pastimes, and not just for political pundits. One theory is based on whether you're from a "football state" or a "baseball state." And, of course, there are Halloween mask sales. And this year, Chia candidates. |
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OMG! A Deb8! What Young People Really Want To Ask Obama And Romney With young people among the hardest hit by the down economy, NPR wondered what millennials want from tonight's debate. The head of a group of college Republicans poses theoretical questions for President Obama. The president of a chapter of college Democrats fashions questions for Mitt Romney. |
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Secrets Of Winning The Presidential Debates For President Obama and Mitt Romney, voter reaction to their first debate may be less about what they say and more about how they say it (and how they look, sound and gesture). That's what experts in body language, fashion, even makeup said when asked for their unsolicited advice to the candidates. |
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6 Quirky Tie-Ins To The 2012 Election This election year, everybody's getting in on the action. Along with the usual posters, T-shirts and lapel pins, other presidential election tie-ins are popping up across the land. Here are a few of the most unusual political marketing ploys that caught our eye. |
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The 7 Coolest Presidents In American History Whether it's their ability to charm, defy convention and appear hip or an unflappable and seemingly detached manner, these seven men personify the meaning of c-o-o-l. |
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Rescuing Wildlife In Scottsdale, Ariz. Liberty Wildlife nurses and cares for wounded animals. |
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A Few Convention Oddities, Pre-Clint Eastwood The actor's speech to an imaginary President Obama at the Republican National Convention was to many a strange moment. But it has company. |
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Sprucing Up Schools In Yigo, Guam Andersen Air Force Base service members are sprucing up campuses, painting classroom walls and freshening up schoolyards. |
