Paul Kengor Columns category, Page 3

In 1946, legendary director Frank Capra teamed up with legendary actor Jimmy Stewart to make a legendary Christmas movie, the iconic “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Indiana, Pa. native Stewart was Capra’s favorite actor and the favorite of many. The film, of course, is filled with scenes leaving you laughing and...

Any discussion of sports in Western Pennsylvania leads to the Steelers, the Penguins, the Pirates — our reigning triumvirate of football, hockey, baseball. Also high on the list is Pitt football, or any local football, high school included. There’s also Pitt basketball. What am I missing? The vast majority wouldn’t...

Last week, I admiringly but grimly eyed up the seven turkeys I’ve raised over the past six months. I literally hatched them. Well, maybe not literally I. That credit goes to their mother. The hen conceived them — with help from the male — and laid them. After she did...

Football is in the bloodstream of Western Pennsylvania. We bleed black and gold for our beloved Pittsburgh Steelers. Steelers mania starts early summer with training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe and typically runs into January with a team that makes the playoffs more than just about any other....

Be prepared for bloody scenes to come in the Gaza Strip, as Israeli forces ready for a land invasion and as Hamas readies to mercilessly exploit hostages. It will be ugly. A tragedy of Hamas’ rule of the Gaza Strip isn’t merely what you’ve seen on TV this October. Since...

On June 5, 1967, at 7:45 a.m. Jerusalem time, the young nation of Israel sent nearly its entire Air Force on a top-­secret bombing run. In total, that was almost 200 fighter aircraft. Only about a dozen planes were left behind. In mere hours (if that), the Israelis wiped out...

Last week in Downtown Pittsburgh, the Institute for Faith & Freedom at Grove City College hosted a fascinating talk by Dr. Gene Kopelson. Kopelson is an oncologist, with credentials that include an M.D. from Columbia University, residency at Harvard University’s Department of Radiation Oncology, an affiliation with the Yale University...

During the end of my time at Pitt in the late 1980s, I lucked into a prized possession, coveted by many a Pittsburgher. Courtesy of my good friend Scott Fedorek, I secured my share of the local holy grail: Steelers season tickets. In those days, you waited decades for such...

As Donald Trump strolled into Georgia for a mugshot for alleged misdeeds in challenging the 2020 election, I was walking through the nation’s capital, where I was struck by this Washington Times headline: “Democrats deny wrongdoing with stolen elections claims.” Those claims weren’t from Trump supporters, but from Democrats, and...

The 20th century was known for some colossal figures in the sciences. One such figure is currently receiving a surge of interest: physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb. That’s because of a major new film by Christopher Nolan. The film has opened old debates about Oppenheimer’s...

I don’t often agree with John Fetterman, Pennsylvania’s junior Democratic senator, but I found myself nodding vigorously at his recent assessment of Donald Trump’s prospects in Pennsylvania for November 2024. In a respectful, non-snarky, sober analysis, Fetterman responded to a question from The New York Times about whether he believes...

My previous dispatch to you, faithful readers, came from far away, in Italy, where I reported on the strangeness of spending July 4 abroad. I mentioned in that column being inspired by the sites and traditions of the old country, including its churches. That thought inspires me again. I received...

VERONA, Italy — For the first time ever, I missed July 4. I was an American abroad, in Italy. I spent the day in Verona and Venice. I missed the fireworks. At one point late in the evening, longing for my Independence Day celebration, we heard distant music that sounded...

I recently attended a Pirates game. As readers know, that’s no small step for me. I boycotted Major League Baseball after its ideological commissioner, Rob Manfred, needlessly thrust our beloved national pastime into the nastiness of partisan politics. Manfred and MLB boycotted the city of Atlanta in protest of Georgia’s...

The Mellon name certainly doesn’t go unrecognized in the Pittsburgh area. But a Mellon who might not get the recognition he fully deserves is Andrew Mellon. Sure, he’s hardly unknown in these parts, but I think Andrew Mellon isn’t appreciated quite the way he should be. One native who doesn’t...

I marvel at fossil fuels. I really do. Fossil fuels are found in the earth’s crust, the natural byproduct of decomposed plants and animals. The best examples are coal, oil and natural gas. Leftist environmentalists have a curious hate relationship with fossil fuels, even as these fuels are produced naturally,...

“I’m considering voting for RFK Jr.,” writes Henry, a reader of my columns. “He’s a very interesting alternative to both parties.” What’s intriguing about Henry is that the presidential candidacy of Democrat Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeals to him not as a Joe Biden voter but as a Donald Trump...

I wrote here recently about attempts to cancel three Pitt speakers sponsored by conservative organizations, including swimmer Riley Gaines and Daily Wire commentator Michael Knowles. The effort was led by LGBTQ forces and Pennsylvania Democratic state Rep. La’Tasha Mayes, who threatened to cancel the university’s funding. Pitt Chancellor Patrick Gallagher...

My family just took a long road trip to Florida. We have a 2010 Ford E-350, a 12-passenger van. It’s an ugly thing, with a 30-gallon tank. I call it our “Baptist Church van,” though we’re Catholic. I’d buy a new model, but they’re obscenely expensive. So, I cling to...

Readers of my column know how I detest cancel culture, especially its ugly spread to speakers on college campuses. Universities ought to be bastions of genuine diversity and the free exchange of ideas. In my days at Pitt, liberals and conservatives were united in supporting one another’s right to bring...

“Ross woman missing for 3 decades found in Puerto Rico, police confirm.” That was a Tribune-Review headline March 3. It was the kind of newsflash too common in this world, so much so that I normally might not have bothered with it. But for some reason, I was prompted to...

It has been an unhappy birthday celebration for Vladimir Putin’s one-year anniversary of his invasion of Ukraine. Rather than handing the Russian authoritarian a birthday cake at the United Nations last week, the international community slapped him with a condemnation calling for Moscow’s immediate withdrawal from Ukraine. The General Assembly...

“Why does Black History Month ignore the author of ‘the most talked about column in Negro America?’” asks a column by Mary Grabar in The American Spectator. Grabar is certainly qualified to ask. For years she has worked on a major biography of George Schuyler. Who was Schuyler, and why...

“Watching cinema inexorably die … brings me little pleasure,” writes cultural observer and film critic Lou Aguilar. “I dedicated most of my life to the art, first as an admirer then a critic.” Aguilar is a colleague of mine at The American Spectator. What inspired his lament, a piece that...

A reader and friend from Wexford ribs me about raising chickens. She finds it cute, funny, but also appreciates my philosophy behind it. She especially appreciates it right now, given the soaring price of eggs. The Avian flu outbreak in the poultry industry has sent the cost of a carton...