S. W. Murphy

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December 2023

November 2023

September 2023

August 2023

The Pleasure of Aging
In 1975, the song “Wildfire” by Michael Murphey was a modest hit. I was six years old. It is the saddest song I have ever heard. In my mother’s brown…
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S. W. Murphy
The Future Is Female, and No One Is Happy
“It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies…
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S. W. Murphy
What Motivates Fanaticism?
The lure of Special Knowledge
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S. W. Murphy
Manifest Degradation
Those of us who live in comparatively idyllic places—that is, nowhere near a large American city—watch in disbelief as residents post images and video…
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S. W. Murphy
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May 2023

An Atheist Defense of Religion
Or, I Don't Know What Has Happened To Everyone But This Is Not Okay
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S. W. Murphy

February 2023

The Meaning of Life
Reflections on its fortieth anniversary
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S. W. Murphy
Sam and Harry Are Boring
In 1977, David Bowie turned thirty and released “Heroes”, the second of three albums recorded while living in Europe, to which he had returned to get…
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S. W. Murphy

January 2023

Années Laides
Ugly Years
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S. W. Murphy
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