Leppert Commentary: Teaching fewer things leads to a population that thinks less
By Michael Leppert The Indiana Citizen July 9, 2025 Oh, to have existed in a period of time named the “Renaissance,” a French word that means “rebirth.” As explained by Brittanica, “it was primarily a time of the revival of Classical learning and wisdom after a long per “...”
Leppert Commentary: People will feel the one big, beautiful bill, and it will be ugly
By Michael Leppert The Indiana Citizen July 2, 2025 Every semester, the students in my business writing class are divided up into teams and are assigned a real-life challenge from a company looking to elevate its performance in any number of ways. It’s an opportunity to researc “...”
Leppert Commentary: Maybe sexual harassment by elected officials shouldn’t end happily for them
By Michael Leppert The Indiana Citizen June 25, 2025 I spent last weekend in New York, as I try to do once a year, for the primary purpose of seeing the latest hot show or two on Broadway. I’d love to say I am expert at picking the best shows, but the truth is, if a show has go “...”
Leppert Commentary: Three days of shock and awe illustrate an American culture in turmoil
By Michael Leppert The Indiana Citizen June 18, 2025 A quarter century ago, as a young bureaucrat, I had a disagreement with my bosses. Energy commodities markets were going through an historic price spike, and my agency set the final rates customers would pay. I wanted rates to “...”
Leppert Commentary: Purdue’s breakup with its student paper shows need to protect truth telling
By Michael Leppert The Indiana Citizen June 11, 2025 I am working on publishing a new book this year. So, I’m spending time with other writers, readers, editors and consultants to make sure the finished product is as good as it can be. While online the other day, an editor wrot “...”
Leppert Commentary: Lt. Gov. Beckwith’s nasty warnings about Pride Month are exactly why Pride is needed
By Michael Leppert The Indiana Citizen June 4, 2025 I love June in Indianapolis. School’s out for me. The gardens, flowers and lawns around town are blooming and greening with optimism. And the city is quiet as it recovers from its traditionally hectic month of May. As my favor “...”
Leppert Commentary: When knowledge is the enemy, greatness is impossible
By Michael Leppert The Indiana Citizen May 28, 2025 In the 1983 classic film, “Trading Places,” Louis Winthorpe III and Billy Ray Valentine are victims of a scientific experiment that is thrust upon them by the elite bosses of a Philadelphia commodities brokerage. Winthorpe i “...”
Leppert Commentary: Braun fails Indiana’s hungry, and the buck stops somewhere else
By Michael Leppert The Indiana Citizen May 21, 2025 Bureaucracy is a word that is often used as an excuse. It is the bogeyman that serves as the source of mysterious and insurmountable odds preventing government from delivering the obvious good and right things to its people. Why “...”
Leppert Commentary: ‘The Talk’ won’t get us through the evil of ICE’s mask-wearing
By Michael Leppert The Indiana Citizen May 14, 2025 In the opening scene of the film, “The Hate U Give,” a father is having The Talk with his two young children. It is a common discussion Black families have in America to prepare for the inevitable contact with law enforcemen “...”
Leppert Commentary: Graduation comes so fast we don’t have time for pretending
By Michael Leppert The Indiana Citizen May 7, 2025 In “Mother Night,” Kurt Vonnegut wrote: “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” I might add: “And for how long.” I was invited to join a small group of students last week to “...”