We’re all Swifties nowIt’s a Taylor Swift world. The rest of us are just living in it.Mar 15, 2024Mar 15, 2024
Mind the gap — an uncomfortable but necessary meditation on the shifting cognitive capabilities of…As Moore’s Law kicks in and we race or plunge, depending on perspective, toward artificial general intelligence, we are obsessed with…Dec 8, 2023Dec 8, 2023
The falling leaves of our autumn yearsIn the lobby of the Peace Hotel in Shanghai, a jazz trio plays soft and sweet in memory. They were a relic, then as now. October in the…Oct 27, 2023Oct 27, 2023
Of America and immigration, the myths are many but the truths are deepAt the kindergarten food-fight of a GOP debate last month at the Ronald Reagan Library, the consensus of the candidates was a rote…Oct 13, 20231Oct 13, 20231
At the crossroads of Margaritaville and Howdy Doody’s last ride“10–29 on a white Crown Vic heading Eastbound on 275, tag ‘Boy & Dog,’ repeat: ‘Boy & Dog.’Sep 15, 2023Sep 15, 2023
Our deep and finite search for connectionWe emerge into the light of the world as part of a pair, destined for separation. Umbilically bound to our mother, we bear innate dualism…Sep 2, 2023Sep 2, 2023
Whoever wins first GOP debate, we all loseNext week in Milwaukee, nearly 18,000 potential voters cram into the Fiserv Forum to hear a half-dozen GOP hopefuls duke it out onstage…Aug 18, 2023Aug 18, 2023
From media to politics, heavy hitters spoiling for a fightMixed martial arts cage matches of the rich and famous. Who knew it’s a thing? When 30 million Instagram users signed up on day one for…Aug 4, 2023Aug 4, 2023
In hype nation, everyone goes fast and breaks thingsWe live in hype nation. The nation of the now. There have always been headlines. There has always been advertising. But there were core…Jul 21, 2023Jul 21, 2023
Abbreviation nationWTF. As a family newspaper, we won’t translate this acronym. I see it all too often in emails and texts. Let’s just say it expresses…Jul 7, 2023Jul 7, 2023
My solemn wishes for the nation’s approaching birthday“Everything dies baby that’s a fact, but maybe everything that dies some day comes back.” With our nation’s birthday looming, these words…Jun 23, 2023Jun 23, 2023
When to fix and fall through the inevitable fissures of life“Everything is broken,” according to Bob Dylan.Jun 9, 2023Jun 9, 2023
What tangled webs of risk acceptance we weaveOn his 80th birthday, singer Leonard Cohen celebrated with a cigarette. “It’s the right age to recommence,” he said. When he died two years…May 26, 2023May 26, 2023
Don’t clean the stains of history from the written page — we must learn from themGiven the state of affairs in Ukraine, we would hardly wish to model our educational and propaganda behavior on that of the Russians, yet…May 12, 2023May 12, 2023
The geopolitical pitfalls of going green? Elemental, my dear TeslaSo you’re purring along — not even the right verb for the sound of silence — in your Tesla. You’re proud of your contribution to the…Apr 28, 2023Apr 28, 2023
In antisemitic political prose, history unfortunately rhymesLost in the brouhaha of the Trump indictment were Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ comments at a press conference last month that should raise…Apr 14, 2023Apr 14, 2023
Higher education requirements are lowering our society’s guardWhat you call someone who graduated last in their class at med school: doctor. If that gives you pause, note that medicine is one of the…Mar 31, 2023Mar 31, 2023
Like a prayer for graying gracefully, we wonder whether age is just a numberStill on the road at 81, Bob Dylan sings on newly remastered “Time Out of Mind” that “It’s not dark yet but it’s gettin’ there.”Mar 17, 2023Mar 17, 2023
It’s not World War II, but we are dealing with a new Axis in Russia and ChinaMark Twain reputedly said that “History never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme.” Whoever said it, it was never so true as the…Mar 3, 2023Mar 3, 2023
