Pathways

Each month we keep track of the different paths modern life is taking right now and how writers are trying to keep up. Here are some routes we found in February that opened up new vistas on what it means to be modern and how we became that way.

One would think in the midst of the crises of liberalism and modernity we would turn to Habermas, but somehow, we have forgotten him. Foreign Policy

Looking for the beginning of trade between Europe and the Americas? You are going to have to go a lot further back into history than just 1492. Live Science

In our increasingly elderly society, do we care at all for the elderly? America Magazine

Where are they holding annual galas in honor of Confederate heroes? The answer isn’t South Carolina—it’s Brazil. The Point

Modernity is obsessed with deadlines. What if the most threatening modern deadline is the nuclear holocaust? Tank Magazine

Modernity is all about fashion, at least according to St. Augustine. Church Life Journal

One of the most important genealogical projects of the 20th Century consisted of unemployed journalists recording the memories of former slaves in the thick of the Great Depression. The Atlantic

Why make a remake if you are going to change the ending? Why have a haunted house that has a happy ending? The Baffler

I don’t need no rockin’ chair! Well, you did if you wanted to fool around in the 1820s. The Public Domain Review

Speaking of rocking chairs, how did a fascist furniture designer win out over a communist designer when it came to designing contemporary home décor? The Nation