Month: May 2019

Jefferson, Adams, and the SAT’s New Adversity Factor

“There is a natural aristocracy among men,” Thomas Jefferson wrote to John Adams from Monticello, in 1813, in one of the best-known passages from their vast post-Presidential correspondence. “There is also an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth, without either virtues or talents; for with these it would belong to the first class. The…

By JohnValbyNation May 24, 2019 0

“Hostile Planet”: Animals Are Struggling to Adapt, and National Geographic Is, Too

When National Geographic’s nature series “Hostile Planet” débuted, in April, I avoided it for several reasons, chief among them the word “hostile.” The series is hosted by the British adventurer and TV personality Bear Grylls, known for swashbuckling feats of survival entertainment, which made me mildly suspicious, as did National Geographic’s ownership in recent years…

By JohnValbyNation May 24, 2019 0

“The Souvenir,” Reviewed: Joanna Hogg’s Ambitious, Frustrating Autobiographical Drama

There’s a theoretical aspect to Joanna Hogg’s urgent and ambitious autobiographical drama, “The Souvenir,” along with its dramatic one; but, far from reinforcing each other, these two aspects are in conflict—neither wins, but both are weakened. It’s set mainly in London, in the early nineteen-eighties, when Julie (Honor Swinton Byrne), a young filmmaker and film…

By JohnValbyNation May 24, 2019 0