Joseph Sabino Mistick: Pittsburgh must be itself
As Pittsburgh’s leaders search for a path to a happier and healthier city, they can find some solid advice in Alan Ehrenhalt’s recent article in Governing magazine, “A Message to Struggling Cities: Be Yourself.” “When it comes to generating a revival, trying to copy what has succeeded somewhere else usually...
Brian Wilson, Beach Boys visionary leader and summer’s poet laureate, dies at 82
Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys’ visionary and fragile leader whose genius for melody, arrangements and wide-eyed self-expression inspired “Good Vibrations,” “California Girls” and other summertime anthems and made him one of the world’s most influential recording artists, has died at 82. Wilson’s family posted news of his death to his...
Tom Purcell: A message for my digital godaughter
My 13-year-old goddaughter still can’t understand how telephone busy signals used to work. She can’t help it. At 13, she’s a member of the Gen Alpha generation, kids born between 2010 and 2024, which is the first generation to not know what life was like before social media and artificial...
Tom Purcell: Still living the American dream
A growing number of Americans think the American dream is out of reach, but I think they are wrong. According to a recent Wall Street Journal poll, only 36% of voters said the American dream still exists, way fewer than the 53% who believed so in 2012. Half of the...
Tom Purcell: Missing my Irish ancestors
Piglet! My surname means piglet! Like millions of Americans, I’ve been poking into my heritage using ancestry sites such as FamilySearch.com. That’s how I learned that “Purcell” is an occupational name of Norman origin for “swineherd.” My name derives from the Norman-French word “pourcel,” which comes from the Latin word...
Tom Purcell: Men and women, a biological no-brainer
Get this: Men’s and women’s brains are different. Using a powerful, first-of-its-kind artificial intelligence model, Stanford Medicine was able to determine with a 90% success rate whether an MRI scan of human brain activity was coming from a male brain or a female brain. “The findings, the investigators suggest, help...
Tom Purcell: Will forgiving college debt win or lose votes?
President Biden recently sent an email to 153,000 student-loan borrowers reminding them to vote for him this autumn. Actually, his email said that he is going to put America into even more hock to repay the college loans they had willingly taken out years ago. Putting it bluntly, his email...
Tom Purcell: Reading more books is good for America
When I read about the “silent book club” trend, it filled me with instant calm and hope. As it goes, in 2012, two friends in San Francisco came up with the idea for a non-formal social event in which book lovers can gather at a coffee house or pub, then...
Tom Purcell: The loveless state of romance
With all the changes modern life is bringing us, here’s one that makes me sad: romance is dying. Here are some interesting romance trends, as reported in CNN health: • The percentage of Americans who don’t have a steady partner is up 50% since 1986. • Americans are less likely...
Tom Purcell: Shaming Girl Scout cookies
I’m in hiding again, as I always am this time of the year. We’re in the thick of Girl Scout cookie season, after all, and I’m on my winter diet. I’m easy prey for the young, highly skilled sales ladies who will no doubt one day run our companies and...
Tom Purcell: The sad future of AM radio
You had a great 100-year run, AM radio, and your demise is breaking my heart. According to the Wall Street Journal, carmakers such as Tesla, Volvo and BMW no longer are providing AM radios in their new vehicles. Why? In part, because of the emergence of electric vehicles. As the...
Tom Purcell: Regulating fun is a slippery slope
The city of Toronto is in the news for outlawing sled and toboggan riding on 45 of its hillsides. According to the Toronto Star, the ban has sparked a robust debate about how far government should go to protect people from themselves while they’re having fun. To be sure, tragic...
Tom Purcell: Our over-coddled kids need some tough love
Get this: Gen Z job applicants are bringing their parents to job interviews, reports the New York Post. As it goes, for several decades America’s children have been over-coddled by their “helicopter parents” — parents who zoom in to resolve any challenge their children may face, even as they become...
Tom Purcell: Making the best of the common cold
I forgot what it was like to experience a good old common cold. Prior to covid, you see, the cold-getting experience went like this: I’d wake with a stuffy nose and scratchy throat and my only thought was to curse the gods for visiting a new virus cocktail on me...
Tom Purcell: The urgency to become cybersecure in 2024
Cyberattacks will be significantly worse in 2024 for anyone who uses a digital device. Yet few are aware of, or prepared for, the threats they face — or how their poor cybersecurity skills are putting them and their families at incredible risk. Case in point: Last year, the top 10...
Tom Purcell: Adopting a pet a win-win New Year’s resolution
Here’s a great New Year’s resolution: Get a pet. As we wrap up a very inflationary 2023, pet shelters across the country are at maximum capacity, and they don’t have room to house the pets people are turning in. ABC News reports that animals entering shelters began to climb in...
Tom Purcell: The best Christmas gift ever — re-embrace childlike joy
The best Christmas gift I ever gave anyone was the one I gave my father about 20 years ago: a Lionel train set. Every year, we got him the same gifts, you see. And every year he’d tell me to tell us, “For God’s sakes, please, no more sweaters.” As...
Tom Purcell: Let’s make America profane again
Here’s a regrettable trend: As profanity has become commonplace, swear words are losing their usefulness. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that the language used in movies and television has gotten dramatically more profane. There are a couple of reasons why. First is the rise of subscription-based streaming television,...
Tom Purcell: Enjoying the gift of giving
Here’s an unpleasant holiday statistic: Average Americans are giving significantly less to their favorite charities this year than they did just four or five years ago. Average Americans have long been among the most generous people on Earth. But this year, thanks to an economy disrupted by covid, soaring interest...
Tom Purcell: Tips for out-of-control tipping
Tipping demands sure have gotten out of control. With every purchase you make — at coffee shops, fast food restaurants, chain stores and more — you are presented with a digital payment screen that asks you to leave a tip. On one hand, you feel guilted into leaving a tip,...
Tom Purcell: The delicious history of pumpkin pie
I love pumpkin pie. It reminds me of so many happy family gatherings when, after clearing the Thanksgiving table, we’d enjoy pumpkin pie, coffee and deeply satisfying conversation well into the evening. My mother’s pumpkin pie has a thick, fluffy crust. She bakes her pies “well done” with a slight...
Tom Purcell: Footing a fast-growing debt-service bill
Well, that didn’t take as long as expected. In case you missed it, our federal government is now paying more than $1 trillion a year to service just the interest on our national debt — $200 billion more than we spend on our military. Why are we suddenly paying so...
Tom Purcell: Exposing ‘Bootgate’
Finally, the press is doing some hard-hitting reporting about our upcoming presidential election. Some in the media are alleging that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wears lifts in his boots. Naturally, this “scandal” has taken on the name “Bootgate.” Why does DeSantis’ height matter? Because throughout American history, the taller presidential...
Tom Purcell: A stylish way to address men’s health
Hopefully, the rugged beard I’ve been sporting will motivate at least one fellow guy to take better care of his health this November. Every November, you see, two charitable organizations, Movember and No-Shave November, raise funds by encouraging men to not cut or shave their facial hair. Both organizations have...
Tom Purcell: The lost art of Halloween-costume humor
Halloween is upon us, which means you’d better be cautious about the costume you choose. Halloween has long been a staple of childhood, but in the past few decades it has been increasingly celebrated by adults — and for good reason. Until recently, it was the one day where adults...
