I enjoyed "The Coddling of the American Mind". They examine the fairly recent phenomenon of people believing that they should be kept "safe" from other people's opinions. I admit I'm not a fan of being forced to listen to other people's opinions, especially when I'm trapped (i.e. at work and can't respond with my own), but at the same time I understand I'm in no danger from them, something that is lost on a lot of people nowadays. They make a good argument that it's been decades in the making, with the rise of 24 hour news cycles, people started to believe that crime was much higher than it actually is and the result was parents terrified to let their children do things they themselves did, like walk to school or play outside without an adult. Kids grew up being told the world was dangerous, and now they are woefully unprepared for a world in which other people live and have opinions that don't line up with theirs. I saw it starting myself when I was in college nearly (gulp) 20 years ago, so I can only imagine how much worse it is now. They make some good, common sense suggestions about how parents can better prepare their kids for the real world.
"Unsolved Murders" was a quick read, full of photographs, about various unsolved murder cases. Some were pretty well known, like the Black Dahlia, while others were more obscure, like the woman whose husband was convicted of killing her but many believe she was attacked by an owl, which caused her to hit her head and die.
No comments:
Post a Comment