Brad Mathews, Author

Thoughts on society and culture

  • Nuance Has Taken a Vacation

    I came across this photograph earlier, and it made me reflect on some things. I challenge you now to name this edifice. Hint: it’s a famous neoclassical monument in Europe and you have probably seen pictures of it before. This structure is known for its more prominent side. It is the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin,…

  • Cancel Your Car Insurance, Cancel Your Syrup, Cancel Everything!

    Imagine you are standing on the bank of a tranquil lake in the blue light just after dawn, before the sun has crept over the horizon to chase away the subtle mist that has enshrouded the landscape. You are there alone, peering at your dancing reflection on the glassy water, challenging yourself to make a…

  • The Spark of Freedom

    Many years ago, the community in which I grew up decided to end sponsorship of the ever-popular Independence Day festivities and hand over the reins to a private enterprise that promised ‘bigger and better.’ The company hired a conductor to lead a symphony that played patriotic classics in an intimate setting much of the day,…

  • A is for Atonement

    As America continues to grapple with the subject of police reform and racism, it has become increasingly clear that we need change if we are to move past these issues. According to recent polling, the vast majority of Americans would agree with that statement. Do you remember the Disney movie Zootopia, which proclaimed that anyone…

  • Humility and Prejudice

    This past October, I had the opportunity to take a weeklong vacation with my family to Northern California. We saw all the sights of San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and Muir Woods National Monument. When returning back to our hotel in Sacramento from the Bay Area one evening, we stopped to eat at a fast food…

  • When ‘Live and Let Live’ Became ‘My Way or the Highway’

    I believe that kindness remains an overall value of American life. When we participate equally in the American dream, we are able to fight apathy with empathy. It is a value bigger than ourselves, deeply ingrained in our way of life. Foreigners often comment, with varying degrees of discomfort, that Americans tend to smile and…

  • Bad Ideas for Bad Times

    We live in a world where problems are plentiful, solutions few, and agreed-upon actions virtually non-existent. Our society has not always been this way. Our nation has shared many triumphs over the years since its founding and few of us would disagree. Big solutions for big problems require unity. Some problems have good ideas and…

  • Justice Can Only be Served if it Feeds All

        When Americans talk about justice, we refer to a system where all are presumed innocent until proven guilty. It is a system that, in its only true form, serves everyone equally. When we start making exceptions to that rule, justice becomes a myth. Our criminal justice system has been a patchwork of laws…

  • Reflections on Truth

      If you have a tile or hardwood floor in your home, I have an experiment for you to try. If you are familiar with the visual trick where you close one eye to view something and then close the other eye and the thing you’re viewing appears to move, you will have the basis…

  • Dr. Jehovah in the House

      Whenever science and religion clash, we expect the internet to explode into bouts of fiery anger and vitriolic name-calling. While these reactions are not unexpected, they are counterproductive in that they press the debate until it is not a debate at all. Ire and finger-pointing accomplish nothing but collectively raising our blood pressure. I…

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