Monthly Archives: July 2023

On The Omnivorous Nature Of The English Language

Posted on July 31, 2023 by nathanalbright

Earlier today I listened to a moderately interesting podcast on the presence of Yiddish within the English language, where an English podcaster collaborated with a cultural American Jew whose secular Jewish grandparents came from Austria and Germany. Yiddish itself is … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Check Your English Vocabulary For IELTS

Posted on July 31, 2023 by nathanalbright

Check Your English Vocabulary For IELTS, by Rawdon Wyatt Although this is not a book that would interest me personally in terms of improving my own knowledge of English, I am in general and have always been interested in textbooks … Continue reading →

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How Does Religion Make You A Better Person?

Posted on July 30, 2023 by nathanalbright

While as a religious person, I tend to think positively about the effects of religion on people, it is by no means uncontroversial to think that religion improves people. There are a great many people who, very loudly, proclaim that … Continue reading →

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On The Influence Of Technological Advancements

Posted on July 29, 2023 by nathanalbright

A dear friend of mine and frequent reader of my essays gave me an essay prompt for the IELTS and asked some questions about what was meant by it: “Earlier technological developments brought more benefits and changed the lives of … Continue reading →

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Is This The Real Life? Is This Just Fantasy?

Posted on July 28, 2023 by nathanalbright

What does the following list of movie have in common: Bohemian Rhapsody, Pearl Harbor, The Greatest Showman, The Pursuit Of Happyness, Straight Outta Compton, Elvis, American Hustle, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Pocahontas, Patch Adams, The Sound of Freedom, … Continue reading →

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One Of Us

Posted on July 27, 2023 by nathanalbright

Are you one of us?Tell me right now, are you one of us?We look after our own, and we would look after you too, if you were one of us. Do you think like us, do you act like us, … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Geography, Government, And Conflict Across The Middle East

Posted on July 27, 2023 by nathanalbright

Geography, Government, And Conflict Across The Middle East, by Bridey Heing One thing that must be understood about this book is that it is both very broad in defining the Middle East as including the countries from Iran to Morocco … Continue reading →

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Never Too Far

Posted on July 26, 2023 by nathanalbright

Today while I was chatting with someone about the sorts of places that they found appealing to live, and the reasons for this, I was struck by something about my own places of residence that I had never realized, and … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Are There Two Americas?

Posted on July 26, 2023 by nathanalbright

Are There Two Americas? (Current Controversies), edited by Caleb Bissinger This is the kind of book that particularly irritates me, not necessarily because of the fact that it is about controversial subjects, but because the book is itself an example … Continue reading →

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Was It Something I Said?

Posted on July 25, 2023 by nathanalbright

In the early 1990’s, in the aftermath of an acrimonious breakup between its two founding creative members, the rump band under Andy McCluskey attempted to go on as a dance band for a few years, and in the first album … Continue reading →

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