Author Archives: Harry Katz
Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention — and How to Think Deeply Again
Do you have trouble focusing these days? Are you getting interrupted by so many notifications, beeps and pings that you can’t concentrate on anything? Are you reaching for your phone every two minutes to check for the latest updates, likes … Continue reading
Biden v. Nebraska: Black-Robed Oligarchs
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Biden Administration announced a plan to cancel up to $10,000 of student loan debt for about 43 million borrowers. Six States sued the federal government claiming that the loan cancellation plan was not … Continue reading
Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College: Colorblind or Just Blind?
From the very beginning, affirmative action – using race as a factor in university admissions – has been controversial. Some say it’s unfair, that it amounts to reverse discrimination. Some have argued that it violates the Equal Protection Clause of … Continue reading
Moore v. Harper: A Win for Sanity and Democracy
Holy crap! A sensible decision from the United States Supreme Court on election law. On June 27, in a case from North Carolina known as Moore v. Harper, the Supreme Court ruled that state legislatures do not have unlimited power … Continue reading
The Reading Crisis
Book bans in the US have sunk to new depths of stupidity. In May, Amanda Gorman’s poem The Hill We Climb, which she read aloud to the whole country at Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021, was banned from a Florida … Continue reading
Introduction to Modern Climate Change
Introduction to Modern Climate Change is a college level textbook aimed at both science and non-science majors. Don’t let that put you off. Anyone with basic high school algebra and chemistry can read this book and learn an incredible amount. … Continue reading
Climate Change: A Very Short Introduction
The centuries-long rivalry between Oxford and Cambridge Universities isn’t limited to just boat races and rugby matches. Both esteemed universities have recently published updated versions of their introductory books on climate change. I’ve read and reviewed a number of … Continue reading
God, Human, Animal, Machine
A chatbot called ChatGPT, released last year by OpenAI, has brought new intensity to the controversy about artificial intelligence. If you haven’t used ChatGPT yet, I encourage you to try it. I’ve included some helpful links at the end of … Continue reading
Hidden Figures
I heard about the movie Hidden Figures a few years ago but never saw it. Recently, the inscrutable algorithms at Instagram started dropping clips from the movie in my feed. I’ve no idea why but I’m grateful. They got me … Continue reading
Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes
I’ve been a fan of Sherlock Holmes since I was a teenager. I’ve always admired the great detective’s ability to solve crimes with a combination of keen observation, deductive reasoning and imagination. I also envied his ability to discern someone’s … Continue reading
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