Monthly Archives: August 2023
The Castrati and Women’s Athletics
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 27th August 2023The castrati of the title refers to male singers who had been castrated as boys – typically between 8 to 10 years of age. This was done in 17th and 18th century Italy in an effort produce singers of extraordinary abilities. That the practice was illegal in addition to being a moral outrage did not…
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Liebestod
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 21st August 2023Wagner’s writing for soprano in his iconic Tristan und Isolde is probably both the most demanding and representative of his entire oeuvre. For the part’s full realization a singer of extraordinary power, art, and flexibility is required. The same requirements are needed for the the tenor who sings Tristan, but he’s for another day. In…
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COVID-19 Misinformation From Doctors
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 17th August 2023Communication of COVID-19 Misinformation on Social Media by Physicians in the US is a study published by the JAMA Open Network. The authors looked at the social media posts of 52 physicians practicing in 28 different specialties. The small sample size is enough to stop reading. They defined COVID-19 misinformation as assertions unsupported by or…
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Long Division
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 13th August 2023Dividing by two isn’t very hard. But if the divisor is large the resultant halves will also be quite large. The disposition of large countries has never been homogeneous no matter the dense accretion of national myths. Typically, there is a degree of truth on either side of internal disagreements. It is rare for one…
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Medical Barbarism
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 2nd August 2023Modern medicine, to a large degree, emerged in Germany during the second half of the 19th century. It reached its apogee in 20th century America which also imported the eugenics movement from the United Kingdom. When the Nazis achieved power in 1933 they added eugenics to their views of “racial purity”. The party fired the…
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