Free Expression

Today: @heymiller goes on an odyssey; @mark_bauerlein calls Gen Ed a joke; and @MJ_Koch explores why Gen Z serves. Plus, @MattHennessey wonders why the WNBA won’t take the easy layup with its biggest star. wsj.com/opinion/free-e…

Confidence in American institutions is declining across the board. But the military stands out as the nation’s second-most trusted institution behind small businesses, writes @MJ_Koch on.wsj.com/4aQeEnP

Engagement and intensity matter more than dollars and cents. And Democrats and independents seem ready to crawl over broken glass to vote against Trump, writes @continetti on.wsj.com/4pr6fxm

General education itself has become an instrument of ideology. Students don’t have to read the Constitution, but they do have to learn the ways of DEI, writes @mark_bauerlein on.wsj.com/4ymG1Qi

This wedding, wrought with references to her own songs and chock-full of A-list celebrities, is fan service at its finest. Taylor Swift knows the life of a showgirl, and she’s betting that we’ll keep watching, writes @emmma_camp_ on.wsj.com/4vrer1F

Christopher Nolan’s movie may force us to think about the fluidity of ageless stories and the dynamism of traditions. As Nolan adapts the poem to the most popular medium of his time, he is the latest in a long line of change agents, writes @heymiller on.wsj.com/4ymCsd6

While most of us won’t have occasion to lay eyes on every state, there is a next best thing: Hearing about it from someone who knows. We asked natives of all 50 states to send us short reflections on the places that made them, writes @MattHennessey on.wsj.com/4wIC1s2

The WNBA’s Caitlin Clark window is closing. The people who run that league have just about convinced the world that they’d rather play politics than basketball, writes @MattHennessey on.wsj.com/4piDmTX

When I look upon the works from the Hudson River School showcasing the landscapes of the U.S., I feel what its practitioners intended: an awe that borders on righteous terror, and a fierce patriotism for America the beautiful, writes @megan_pidcock on.wsj.com/4w5lgHz

Even during an unpopular global conflict in the Middle East, and even among a generation skeptical of the U.S. role in the world, a fresh wave of young Americans is looking to the armed forces for stability, purpose and belonging, writes @MJ_Koch on.wsj.com/4hcXMvm

When I hear “capitalism,” I think of an economic system where goods are distributed by markets rather than governments. That, I’ve now realized when talking about economics online and in person, is an unusual perspective, writes @emmma_camp_ on.wsj.com/4yk8Tsz

Old-style general education preserved a lineage in a triumphant way. It was 1776 not 1619, the Alamo more than Vietnam, Booker T. Washington over Malcolm X. The latter topics now crowd out the former, writes @mark_bauerlein on.wsj.com/451AaCz

Many social-media nightcrawlers used the occasion of Lindsey Graham’s death to show the world the blackness of their souls. I understand bitterness and resentment. But I’ve never understood the impulse to speak ill of the dead, writes @MattHennessey on.wsj.com/4w5kLxb

A fresh wave of young Americans is looking to the armed forces for stability, purpose and belonging, writes @MJ_Koch. Read more: on.wsj.com/3QUwsHP

Whatever his success, Christopher Nolan is true to his source in the most fundamental of ways. The first adapter of “The Odyssey,” after all, was Homer, whoever he was, writes @heymiller on.wsj.com/4wCiCJ1

Populism on the right and socialism on the left are generating a lot of well-justified unease. But what if they’re rooted in the same problem? Call it the pessimism crisis, writes @rkylesmith on.wsj.com/451ZN6l

The women’s professional basketball league has never really caught on. For decades the only thing keeping it afloat was money from the cash factory known as the NBA. Then, suddenly, Caitlin Clark arrived, writes @MattHennessey on.wsj.com/4ycSLZQ

Gen Zers aren’t known for being overly patriotic. But they’re helping the U.S. military rebound its recruiting to the highest levels in 15 years, writes @MJ_Koch on.wsj.com/4fg6BBY

Lawmakers are exercising their rightful power to set gen ed policy. Conservatives have grumbled about bias on campus for 50 years. This is one area of easy reform, writes @mark_bauerlein on.wsj.com/4voZKw9

The man at the foundation of Western literature probably couldn’t read or write. Homer almost certainly was illiterate. An American professor proved it nearly a century ago, writes @heymiller on.wsj.com/4feevfj

Caitlin Clark has what it takes to put the WNBA on the map for real . . . and for good. So why does it seem like the powers that be are trying to make sure it doesn’t happen? asks @MattHennessey on.wsj.com/4wEuGJP