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Stephen L. Carter
For Stephen L. Carter's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 6, 2019
Get off the bandwagon of banning plastic bags
When used just once plastic bags can cause problems, but many people repurpose them.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 22, 2019
The day hope landed on the moon
Fifty years later, it's hard to convey how much joy there was when the Eagle finally landed.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2019
No news is bad news for civil discourse
The disappearance of local newspapers is making national politics more polarized.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 17, 2019
Michael Jackson's influence cannot be canceled
Credible accusations of abuse against an artist don't make his art less great, but they do make it less enjoyable.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 11, 2018
There's nothing wrong with being wrong
Humans are built to make mistakes. Admitting them is crucial to a functioning democracy.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 10, 2018
Don't be shocked at spies tracking your cellphone
The 'stingray' discovery in Washington is a reminder of how much data we're giving away
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 25, 2018
Controlling the web a dream and nightmare
Authoritarian governments regulate what their citizens can see online. The U.S. lets tech companies make similar decisions.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 23, 2017
What makes 'The Last Jedi' so fascinating
'The Last Jedi' is an awful lot of fun, and it's that rare blockbuster that makes you think.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 9, 2017
Technophobes and the future of jobs
What if your profession has never required much computer literacy — and then all of a sudden it does. Should you be fired?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 2, 2017
Elon Musk wants Mars and that should inspire all of us
Venus shines brighter in the sky, but somehow we have always known that our destiny lies with Mars.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 8, 2017
Ideology behind intolerant students isn't new
The downshouters remind the rest of us that the true harbinger of an authoritarian future lives not in the White House but in the groves of academe.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 25, 2017
Depressed by politics? Stop staring at phones
If we expect better from officeholders and candidates and activists, we have to demand better from ourselves.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 19, 2016
Christmas in America means the usual lawsuits
'Tis the season of bitter division over words and symbols.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 12, 2016
What it was like to look up to John Glenn
Truly larger than life American heros like John Glenn are a breed that just doesn't come around anymore.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 6, 2016
Ali forced people to take sides, and I took his
Muhammed Ali was the transcendent sports figure of the 20th century, a lightning rod for controversy who became a beloved ambassador for peace.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 12, 2015
Calling on Batman to explain our dark world
From World War II to today's war on terror, the comic book hero Batman evolves with the times to reflect America's fears.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 25, 2015
Inequality debate looks in the wrong direction
What's truly terrible in America isn't that a few people have so much. It's that so many people have so little.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 13, 2015
Corporations lie, and some get away with it
In the midst of so many contexts where we expect people sometimes to lie — sports, entertainment, certainly politics — it is disturbing that the one place to which we run for truth is private corporations.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 15, 2015
Honor the past, not the racism
Rather than try to sanitize U.S. history, Americans should explore it and realize they can admire some aspects of the greats of the past without endorsing everything for which they stood.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 22, 2015
What attracts people to white supremacy?
Supremacists offer disaffected whites someone to love and someone to hate, along with an assurance that the problem isn't in you, but in 'them.'

Longform

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces