(These are excerpts—click on the title to view the whole piece!)
 

A House Divided: Why We Need a New National Narrative

A new social contract should have replaced the First Constitution in our national consciousness as the recognized source of our most sacred freedoms. But we continue to insist on arguing about the "original intent" of the 1787 document instead of acknowledging the "rebirth of the nation" Lincoln proclaimed at Gettysburg. Ignoring that new, Second Constitution and sticking to a national narrative out of date since the days of the Civil War is tearing the nation apart.

Thomas J. Hubschman
 

Scratching the Akashic Record Player

It only recently occurred to me that my two-plus decades of my own fussing over my vinyl-based playback chain with pre-pre amps for moving coil cartridges, stylus brushes, multiple cleaning devices, and rice-paper record sleeves expressed the same finicky pride my grandfather brought to his clocks. If there are individual genes for disliking cilantro, being annoyed by the sounds of other people chewing, or for excessive ear wax buildup, I suppose my daughter's record player could be the fourth-generation expression of some gene resulting in a fascination with gadgets—possibly the same one that separated modern humans from their Neanderthal cousins.

Marko Fong
 

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