Philip Petrov

Karl Kroeber, or living and dying in the present

In a world replete with self-promotion and self-pity, Kroeber worked—quietly and unpretentiously—to remind us of how things could be.

By Philip Petrov | Nov 11 07:14 pm ET

Columbia’s social life—the greatest comedy of all

The more civilized one becomes, the better one learns to lie—this is a fact of near-anthropological proportions.

By Philip Petrov | Apr 12 11:18 pm ET

Are Ivy League writers cheerful?

Back in 2002, Jonathan Safran Foer published Everything is Illuminated, a novel that immediately aroused the attention of America’s book-reviewing cabal. Foer’s novel also provoked an extraordinary amount of resentment, and The Guardian had to invent a new word—“Schadenfoer”—to describe the viciousness with which so many commentators berated the young author.

By Philip Petrov | Mar 29 09:39 pm ET

Why Are College Students—and Bwog—So Clever?

College students who insult people in online articles are going to revitalize our political discourse? Bwog and IvyGate are going to rescue America from the tedium of mainstream journalism? How many sweet, democratic-sounding lies need to be poured into one’s ear before one can begin to believe this nonsense?

By Philip Petrov | Mar 8 10:50 pm ET

The Modern-Day Intellectual

It’s become impossible to write about “intellectualism”—or anything else, for that matter—without getting into politics, psychology, and lots of trouble.

By Philip Petrov | Feb 22 11:50 pm ET

The Fetish for Justice

Justice embarrasses us because, deep down inside, we know that it can’t rescue us from suffering. And being so incredibly serious about justice allows us to dodge the real issue.

By Philip Petrov | Feb 8 10:29 pm ET

The Stench of Politics

In this society, one has to be a real escape artist—a real Houdini of the soul—if one wants to get away from politics.

By Philip Petrov | Jan 26 12:07 am ET

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