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High school seniors in Moore, Okla., will hold commencement ceremonies Saturday, despite the death and destruction wreaked by this week's tornado. Scott Simon asks two Oklahoma writers to offer advice to the graduating classes.

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According to Russian diplomats, Syrian leader Bashar Assad's regime agreed "in principle" to attend an international peace conference. Paresh Nath finds Russia's role as broker hypocritical, while Osama Hajjaj sees no honest brokers in the Syrian conflict.

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May 24, 2013 To understand the origin of traits, you need, in effect, to look at how we think and feel about the traits we have. What we are is fixed, in part, by us. That was one of the thoughts prompted by commentator Alva Noë's arrival in Istanbul this week.

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May 24, 2013 President Obama announced changes in how the U.S. will deal with enemies in custody and in the field. John Cole thinks the continued use of Guantanamo is hardly better than America's drone program, while Schot sees the attack in London as a new kind of terrorism that requires new kinds of responses.

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May 24, 2013 Lois Lerner, who oversees tax exempt organization operations at the IRS, invoked her Fifth Amendment rights in refusing to testify before Congress this week. Jeff Parker has no qualms about the treatment IRS officials have received, while Nick Anderson thinks Lerner owes Americans an explanation.

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May 23, 2013 Two of America's most imaginative businesses are getting mixed reviews. Ed Hall thinks Apple should use its creativity on something more customer-friendly than tax loopholes, while Dave Fitzsimmons is less than thrilled by the privacy implications of Google Glass.

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May 22, 2013 Confronted with the amazing advances made by science, why do so many still cling to God as a creator? Could the answer be that we need to be created in order to be special? Or are we afraid of our own unique place in the Universe? Marcelo Gleiser knows what he thinks.

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May 22, 2013 The Oklahoma City suburb of Moore was devastated by a tornado for the second time in a generation. Dario Castillejos and Randy Bish express their sympathy.

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May 21, 2013 Religion is often organized in terms of a god, or gods. It's a system of beliefs embodied in a being or beings. But that's not always the case. It can mean more, a lot more, says Adam Frank after finding inspiration in the writing of Ronald Dworkin.

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May 21, 2013 President Obama's recent run of controversies is seen by some as the result of a second-term curse. John Deering points out that when you're "cursed" even the simplest things can cause a stir, while J.D. Crowe thinks that the President's troubles are being overblown by partisanship.

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May 20, 2013 Chimamanda Adichie's Americanah is about a young Nigerian woman who moves to the U.S. It's a story of relocation, far-flung love and life as an outsider. But reviewer Rosecrans Baldwin says that despite the author's talent, much of the storytelling feels flat.

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May 20, 2013 It's the end of the academic year and students everywhere are taking tests. What for? Commentator Tania Lombrozo suggests we should shift our focus from testing for assessment to testing for learning.

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May 20, 2013 The visit of Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan brought the crisis in Syria into focus. Daryl Cagle wonders whether President Obama can resist the GOP's call for action, while Osama Hajjaj thinks the conflict already has enough participants.

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May 19, 2013 Author Ethan Rutherford started reading Daphne du Maurier's collection of stories, Don't Look Now, while it was still light out and didn't move from his chair until dark. Each one features characters who endure the strange and the extreme, and who are forever changed by the events that befall them.

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