Public Health
What is Your Life Worth?
The victims of men like Brian Thompson live with fear every day. The only difference is: our society collectively gives exactly zero f***s about the ordinary person struggling to pay their medical bills.
parenting
First Week as a Dad?
Being a dad seemed like some strange monolith glimpsed through fog. More fiction than fact. Now, suddenly, I'm standing before it, humbled and in awe.
Social Media
The Empty Chamber of Online Intimacy
The addict knows not what he does, nor why he rages when confronted: so same is the user of the Internet.
Music
Tuning Out Perfection: Embracing the Flaws that Make Music Human
Pitch correction in music strips away the soul of singing. Authentic voices, like Garland's, reveal the beauty in imperfections.
Spirituality
Beyond the Easy Answers
In hard times, I reflect on Chapter 20 of the Tao te Ching. In uncertain times, fluidity brings about hope.
Film
Civil War Review: Does It Actually Mean Anything?
Civil War is a beautifully shot miss, nicking the target before zinging off into the brush.
News
Bird Flu Outbreaks and Factory Farms
The United States has a ghoulish problem with its farms and the consequences could be dire.
Holding Onto the Future
What really robbed us wasn’t the pandemic. I just finished reading a poignant article by Rachel Hislop entitled “Testing My Fertility at the End of My World”. It’s a personal essay with some melancholic teeth, and is the first in a series I’m certain to continue reading.
Libraries on the Front Line: Amazon and the Last of the Big Fish
How the big five paved the way for Amazon’s predation and the enshittification of publishing. There can be no question on this issue: electronic books provide easier access to knowledge and entertainment for people than has ever before been possible. Hundreds, even thousands of books can be carried around
Holidays
Carl Sagan Day 2023
Our shared humanity is visible in the light of the stars. Today is Carl Sagan day, and I am stirred, as always, to take a moment to pause, look toward the heavens, and see in that awe-inspiring firmament all the hopes, fears, sorrows, and joys of our strange and beautiful
Politics
Whose Fault is it Anyway?
Until we stop looking at other human beings as the enemy, we’re going to keep having problems.
philosophy
How Can We Meet the Future with Compassion?
For this pandemic, and all those to come, we must build the resilience of an open heart and mind.