Robert Whitcomb is a journalist and editorial writer who contributed essays and reviews to The Weekly Standard from 2005 to 2017. He is known for his work as an editor and columnist at The Providence Journal and as a commentator on politics, culture, and public affairs in New England and beyond. His pieces for the magazine spanned a range of topics including politics, history, and cultural criticism.
Central to the rise of the island of Singapore as one of the world's most important cities are its location on one of the planet's most important waterways and crossroads and its potent mix of the behavioral values of two cultures—British and overseas Chinese.
Central to the rise of the island of Singapore as one of the world's most important cities are its location on one of the planet's most important waterways and crossroads and its potent mix of the behavioral values of two cultures—British and overseas Chinese.
When I was a boy living in coastal Massachusetts, I frequently heard stories about the great hurricane that crashed into Long Island and New England on Sept. 21, 1938. Most of the people who described it to me—my father and some of his friends—were only in their 30s and early 40s when they told me…
One of the cities of my boyhood was Duluth, Minnesota, where most of my mother’s family lived when they weren’t in Florida. I recall it as spectacular, with high hills overlooking the unswimmably cold Lake Superior, evergreen forests, and many signs of intense industry and trade. In 1868, Dr.…
At least since his 1994 bestseller The Death of Common Sense, the New York lawyer, author, and founder/chairman of the reform group Common Good Philip K. Howard has been trying to rescue Americans from ever-denser laws, regulations, and litigation. (Disclosure: I have known Howard for half a…
The Statues That Walked
Thrift
Beet
Confessions of a Spoilsport
Write It When I'm Gone
The Iambics of Newfoundland
And the Money Kept Rolling In (and Out)