Posts by David Benjamin
The Epicurean giant
by David Benjamin “We should look for someone to eat and drink with before looking for something to eat and drink.” — Epicurus MADISON, Wis.—Based on a whim and a need for frequent flyer miles, Hotlips booked us recently on a trip to Santa Fe. I was somewhat dubious of our destination, a town that…
Read MoreThe Big Factory
by David Benjamin “American manufacturers have cut more than 80,000 jobs in the past year.” — Ben Casselman and Ana Swanson, “In 2025, Trade Deficit in Goods Reached Record High,” New York Times, 19 Feb. MADISON, Wis.—Whenever I head east toward Chicago on I-90, I pass a familiar, almost nostalgic landmark, the now mothballed Chrysler…
Read MoreBeltway Barbie and the Botox cougars
by David Benjamin “Another day, another round of pedophiles, violent thugs, and human traffickers removed from American communities. Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, ICE is targeting and removing the WORST OF THE WORST criminal illegal aliens terrorizing American families.” ―Tricia McLaughlin MADISON, Wis.—Despite a decorous embargo by the establishment media, you might have noticed…
Read MoreBack to Kansas, Toto
by David Benjamin “Color is just not real enough … Perhaps it is for television, where your audience is sitting in a room with the lights on. But in a dark theater, confronted by that huge screen, I feel that it’s just not convincing.” ―Carol Reed MADISON, Wis.—On the eighteenth anniversary of D-Day, in the…
Read MoreJilted for an Apple
by David Benjamin “Hey, sunshine I haven’t seen you in a long time Why don’t you show your face and bend my mind?” ―Simon & Garfunkel, “Cloudy” MADISON, Wis.—While I was half-listening to a CD in my car, a snatch of lyrics brought her back to me in a rush. Technically, I guess, she was…
Read MoreThree-Pee-Oh was a steel-drivin’ droid, Lord, Lord …
by David Benjamin “John Henry said to his cap’n, ‘Oh, a man ain’t nothin but a man, And before I let that steam drill beat me down, I’ll die with this hammer in my hand, Lord, Lord, I’ll die with this hammer in my hand’ …” ―Josh White, “The Story of John Henry” MADISON, Wis.—During…
Read MoreThe newshounds of Bowling Villa
by David Benjamin LAS VEGAS—At a giant annual trade show whose emphasis is on the all-new and “innovative,” the vibe at the House of Journalists this year was refreshingly old-school. This residential subset of an immense media presence at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) was launched five years ago by Scott Fosgard, a veteran of…
Read MoreThe artisanal child
by David Benjamin “‘No grownups allowed’ was, after all, the principle that defined every kid’s kidhood. You took orders from grownups. You ate the food they fed you (unless it was liver or Brussels sprouts). You went to bed when they said. You went to school because they said. You got stuff from them—clothes, dimes,…
Read MoreThe criminal inside me … and you, too
by David Benjamin “That’s the difference between crime and business. For business you gotta have capital. Sometimes I think it’s the only difference.” ― Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye MADISON, Wis.—It was 1968, the bloodiest year in what came to be loosely termed the counterculture. I had hitchhiked to Chicago on a lovelorn mission that…
Read MoreMr. Dedrick and the idiot intern
by David Benjamin “College is about exposing students to many things and creating an aphrodisiac atmosphere so that they might fall in lifelong love with a few.” ― David Brooks MADISON, Wis.—The word that comes to mind when I remember Philip Dedrick is “unassuming.” He was a tweedy man with a gray thatch of unruly…
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