Martin Cothran

Martin Cothran

Contributor

Martin Cothran is the editor of Classical Teacher magazine, published by Memoria Press, and the director of the Classical Latin School Association.

Recent blog posts by this author

The Gender Charade Facing the Supreme Court

It was announced this week that the U.S. Supreme Court would be considering a lower court decision that redefined the word "sex" to mean "gender identity." The case — R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. EEOC — stems from a 6th...

The Rights Glut

When someone talks about having "rights," what do they mean? I was asked recently whether I thought same-sex parents had the "right" to adopt. I said that I didn't think anyone had a "right" to adopt. We decide...

How PC Moralism Cuts Us Off From Our Cultural Heritage

Anyone who has read classic literature knows that there are things in old books that offend our sensibilities. And this isn't a new phenomenon either. Every generation sees something in the thought and writing of previous generations that it doesn...

Why Johnny Still Can't Read

In 1955, prompted by the reading problems experience by the child of a friend, Rudolf Flesch wrote the book Why Johnny Can't Read. The book became a huge bestseller and is still in print today. Flesch realized that the reason many...

When News Stories are about News Stories, Something has Gone Wrong.

There are two kinds of news stories: There are news stories about something that happened, and there are news stories about news stories. When news stories are about news stories, that usually means that something has gone wrong. The...

Gillette and the Rise of Political Sycophancy

What is the deal with razor companies? First they put their products under lock and key, making it practically impossible to actually buy a razor, then they insult their customers. No wonder beards are making comeback. ...

How are Humans Different Than Animals? Don't Bother Asking a Scientist.

When the question of how human beings are different from other animals comes up, scientists begin to display a disturbing handicap in answering it. The theory of evolution, whatever else might be said about it, seems to constrain their answers to...

Trump May Be Down, but He Shouldn't Be Counted Out.

Trump's lack of popularity is no surprise. Of course, he has brought much of this on himself. With the help of a hostile media, it is understandable why he can't seem to break the 45 percent ceiling. The result has been predictions of an imminent...

'Justice' is the 'Word of the Year.' But What is 'Social Justice'?

The hot new thing for dictionary companies is picking the "Word of the Year." Merriam-Webster has picked the word 'justice' for 2018. You can quibble over whether that is really the most significant word for the year, but the dictionary bases its...

A Perfect Solution to the Statue-Toppling Problem

Schools ought to teach history, not protest it. A number of teachers at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill have pledged to withhold more than 2,000 grades in protest over the university's plans to house "Silent Sam" in a...