Articles Archive - Page 85 of 154 - Pittsburgh Quarterly

A few years after “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” exploded on the scene, the University of Chicago surveyed 36 well-known economists, asking if they agreed with Piketty. The results? One yes and 35 no’s. How could a book so celebrated upon publication diminish into obscurity in a few short years? Presumably, it had something to do with …

Three Fundamental Laws of Private Capital Read More »

Opinion

Contemplating the Death of Mice

by David Macpherson

I sit in my living room on a quiet winter morning dimmed by an opaque, gray sky. I hear crunching, first thinking a squirrel is playing on my roof, or winter snow and ice is starting to slide. The intermittent sound is persistent and peculiar. I walk toward it. It stops. I stop, looking, listening, …

Contemplating the Death of Mice Read More »

Arts

Then and Now

by Vicky A Clark

After a foray into fashion, The Frick Art and Historical Center has returned to its comfort zone with “Van Gogh, Monet, Degas: The Mellon Collection of French Art from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts” (March 17-July 8, 2018). Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon amassed an extremely large collection of art, and while he was …

Then and Now Read More »

Profiles

A Life Caring for Fallingwater

by Douglas Heuck

Lynda S. Waggoner is vice president of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and director of Fallingwater. On the occasion of her retirement, we asked her to look back on more than 50 years at Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece. Q. How did you get involved with Fallingwater? A. I was a senior in high school in 1965, …

A Life Caring for Fallingwater Read More »

Arts

Moby Dick Spouts at Pittsburgh Opera

by Matthew John Milligan

When Herman Melville’s classic 1850 novel hits Pittsburgh March 17 for a four-show run at the Pittsburgh Opera, audiences will set sail with Captain Ahab on his obsessive pursuit of the infamous white whale that robbed him of his leg and, perhaps, his sanity. The stage is Ahab’s ship, the Pequod, moving through various parts …

Moby Dick Spouts at Pittsburgh Opera Read More »

Events

Flappers, Bootleggers and Gangsters, Oh My! History Uncorked Entertains 1,600 Guests

by PQ Staff

The Senator John Heinz History Center hosted its 20th annual History Uncorked, Pittsburgh’s premier party for young professionals, on Friday, Feb. 16. History Uncorked: Roaring ’20s, presented by BNY Mellon, offered an evening of fun, discovery, dancing, and activities to 1,600 guests—not to mention great food from Pittsburgh’s hottest eateries and delicious drinks from Wigle …

Flappers, Bootleggers and Gangsters, Oh My! History Uncorked Entertains 1,600 Guests Read More »

Events

The Children’s Home Celebrates 125 Years

by PQ Staff

On Saturday, March 3, 2018, The Children’s Home of Pittsburgh & Lemieux Family Center celebrated 125 years of serving children and families through their three programs: Adoption, Child’s Way® daycare for medically fragile children, and the Pediatric Specialty Hospital, a 30 bed transitional pediatric hospital. Shake Your Booties 125th Birthday Party marked the 17th year …

The Children’s Home Celebrates 125 Years Read More »

Creative Capital

The Rich Will Lose Their Money Soon Enough

by Greg Curtis

We are talking about Thomas Piketty’s “Capital in the Twenty-First Century,” including its extraordinary publishing history and its subsequent fade from grace. I reviewed the various problems with Pikkety’s theses as they have been noted in the economics literature, and I also proposed my own view of the book’s central problem: that its author is a naïf. …

The Rich Will Lose Their Money Soon Enough Read More »

American Spirit

Trading Licks with Dave: The Wisdom from a Lifetime of Music

by Kate Benz, photography by John Altdorfer

“You want a speedball?” Dave asks. “No, not that,” he adds, laughing at the blank stares. “Not coke and Quaaludes like they used to offer us in L.A. Espresso and wine. One of my clients got me this espresso machine. Fun. Oh man, have you heard of this? Beaver Valley Blend. Amazing. Really, really smooth.” …

Trading Licks with Dave: The Wisdom from a Lifetime of Music Read More »

Opinion

Man’s Best Friend

by Douglas Heuck

There once was a dog named Stormy. When he was very young, a man became his friend and carefully introduced him to all sorts of people, places and situations. He kept little Stormy away from frightening things, and Stormy grew up to love people and the world. Every morning of his life, he jumped as …

Man’s Best Friend Read More »

Nature

Making Maple Syrup

by Daryln Brewer Hoffstot

What is this?—syrup, maple syrup in a quart jar, syrup my grandfather made twenty-five years ago for the last time. I remember coming to the farm in March in sugaring time, as a small boy. He carried the pails of sap, sixteen-quart buckets, dangling from each end of a wooden yoke that lay across his …

Making Maple Syrup Read More »

Creative Capital

On r > g, Part II

by Greg Curtis

Thomas Piketty’s “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” exploded on the scene in mid-2013, but it’s impact faded quickly. I reviewed last week the widely discussed reasons why Piketty’s book fell from grace, but I also proposed a reason of my own: that Piketty is a naïf. A naïf, for this purpose, is a person who knows his narrow subject …

On r > g, Part II Read More »

Health

Helping Children Heal and Thrive

by Ben Schmitt

When Pamela Schanwald was pregnant, doctors relayed a terrifying image from an ultrasound: extra skin on the back of her son’s neck indicated possible Down syndrome. She immediately began searching for day care options in the Pittsburgh area for children with special needs. She couldn’t find any. “Obviously, I knew it would be a lifelong …

Helping Children Heal and Thrive Read More »

Books

A Terrific Look at the Sophisticated History of Black Pittsburgh

by John Allison

“Smoketown” is a gift to Pittsburgh on a number of levels. When an accomplished national journalist and author turns in a deeply researched and gracefully written work about your town, that’s a win. Beyond that, Mark Whitaker, a former editor of Newsweek, gives Pittsburghers the gift of enhanced understanding of their city, stretching back centuries. …

A Terrific Look at the Sophisticated History of Black Pittsburgh Read More »

Opinion

An Open Letter to Amazon

by PQ Staff

With cities across the nation primping and preening to be the fairest of them all and win the prize of becoming Amazon’s second headquarters, I’d like to let the Amazon decision makers know about a quality which I doubt has been part of any sales pitch thus far. But first, a preamble. Pittsburgh is now …

An Open Letter to Amazon Read More »

Regional Annual Report

Gaining Critical Mass

by Jeffery Fraser

Alfred Hunt knew a good idea when he saw it. And Charles Martin Hall had one. In 1886, the 23-year-old chemist had discovered a smelting process to make aluminum inexpensively while working in a lab he cobbled together in a shed behind his parent’s house in northern Ohio. Hunt, a Pittsburgh metallurgist, realized its commercial …

Gaining Critical Mass Read More »

Regional Annual Report

What are “Waters of the United States”?

by Ashley Murray

What are the so-called “waters of the United States” and why did the Obama administration expand the definition? To understand that is to understand the evolution of environmental regulation in the United States and how the nation’s courts have interpreted what’s protected. With the exception of the 1948 Federal Water Pollution Act, hardly any water …

What are “Waters of the United States”? Read More »

Regional Annual Report

Region Gets Average Marks for Senior Livability

by Jeffery Fraser

The Pittsburgh region has filled a trophy case with awards for being judged the “most livable” place in the nation by a variety of publications and organizations. But when the livability of senior citizens is considered, the region is less than a standout, an AARP index suggests. AARP scores the livability of U.S. counties based …

Region Gets Average Marks for Senior Livability Read More »

Regional Annual Report

A Different Pittsburgh

by Julia Fraser

There’s an Andy Warhol canvas of a newspaper clipping with a photograph of a can of tuna fish and, beneath it, two middle-aged women and the caption: “Seized shipment: Did a leak kill…Mrs. McCarthy and Mrs. Brown?” The painting, “Tunafish Disaster,” is comedian and Warhol collector Steve Martin’s favorite work by the Pittsburgh-born artist. And …

A Different Pittsburgh Read More »

Regional Annual Report

Protecting Our Streams

by Ashley Murray

Determining where water begins and ends seems a matter of physical properties, of whether two hydrogen molecules are bonded to oxygen, and how much of it exists. Where is it located, and will people eventually drink it? Swim in it? Fish in it? This molecule, essential to life, has become another point of political polarization. …

Protecting Our Streams Read More »

Regional Annual Report

It Wears You Down

by Jeffery Fraser

Caring for her father fell to Patrice Cottrell about nine years ago. It involved a few errands, at first. Doctor visits, marshaling his medications, coordinating health care and financial matters and scouting out and evaluating long-term care possibilities followed as his health declined. There were late-night calls when he was anxious about living alone, but …

It Wears You Down Read More »

Regional Annual Report

The Economic Outlook for 2018

by Jeffery Fraser

tronger hiring last year, rising wages and upcoming tax cuts lead those who read the economic tea leaves to be cautiously optimistic that 2018 could reward southwestern Pennsylvania with the largest increase in job growth in five years, finally shaking the malaise that works to contract the local labor force, send residents packing and stifle …

The Economic Outlook for 2018 Read More »