Don't Bogart My Blog: Sunday Best: If Stalin had a smartphone…

"It's springtime for dictators."

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Sunday, March 17, 2019

NYTimes.com/Opinion »

Were you accepted into college on your own merit? It turns out many people aren't. If you're O.K. with that, here's a guide to saving for college bribery. But illegal bribery, like the type allegedly employed by the wealthy parents who were indicted last week, isn't the only way to secure an elite education for your child. Our columnist Frank Bruni writes that their actions are just "versions of routine favor-trading and favoritism that have long corrupted the admissions process, leeching merit from the equation." How would you like to see the process changed so that college acceptance becomes a true meritocracy? Write me at op-reads@nytimes.com. Please note your name, age and location in your response, which may be included in the next newsletter. — Alexandra March

If Stalin Had a Smartphone

A woman in Moscow taking a selfie with an image of Stalin, on the anniversary of his death. Mladen Antonov/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

By DAVID BROOKS

The same technology that makes our lives easier is also tracking everything we do. It's a dictator's dream: "They surrender their privacy to you and give you access to their brains."

How 'Real America' Became Queer America

Community members celebrating the SCOTUS decision on marriage equality in 2015. Robert Daemmrich Photography Inc/Corbis, via Getty Images

By SAMANTHA ALLEN

On a road trip across "Trump country" this writer did arts and crafts with gender-nonconforming teens from Mormon families, and saw Bible Belters and lesbian couples ride roller coasters together at Dolly Parton's theme park.

An Epidemic of Obstetric Violence

Melinda Beck

By VANESSA BARBARA

"We can only wonder why obstetric abuse is so ubiquitous in Latin America, a place where motherhood is often sanctified. Maybe it's precisely because of this."

The Future of Pain Management

Jon Han

By HAIDER WARRAICH

Is it all in your head? It turns out, pain might be — at least to some degree. The American medical community treats it only as a physical problem that needs to be alleviated, but what if we treated pain more holistically?

The Case of the Missing Cuteness Gene

Illustrations by Alvaro Dominguez; Photographs by JGI/Jamie Grill, Alfred Pasieka/Science Photo Library, Emmanuelle Bonzami/EyeEm, and Filo, via Getty Images

By PAGAN KENNEDY

If you don't have baby fever, you're not alone. One writer who decidedly does not want to have children tried to track down a scientific reason for her lack of reproductive desire.

Read the full Opinion report here.

Join us in New York City on Wednesday, March 20, for an event on women's history, women's present (and what we hope isn't anyone's future). The Sunday Review editor, Rachel Dry, will host a night of comedy, conversation and musical theater with The New York Times Opinion section. Tickets are available here.