RFK Jr., Aslan, and me
I was the youngest in my small family, the baby, and was always considered the quiet and sensitive one. But [...]
The spirit of Catanzaro
Italy has long been modern Europe’s foremost repository for offhand clichés. Italians, according to other Europeans, simply could not (and [...]
Unequal compassion
My friend Barbara is exceptional in so many ways I can hardly keep track of them. She and her husband [...]
Villainy’s double standards
A friend called me the other day to ask what I thought of the horrifying and surreal news — those [...]
Cool, calm, hysterical
A few weeks ago, a young friend of mine who had been feeling “not right” for the better part of [...]
Reading back Germany
Once upon a time, I was — in every way — what most people used to call a military brat. [...]
Mortal man’s dilemma
To you, the readers of this oration of mine, my scrawl, I must immediately confess two truths. My name is [...]
That vanishing habit
These days I’m busy compiling ghost stories. Most of them are miles away from mansions and graveyards, but that doesn’t [...]
Risk no more
Here’s a little confession that, at this point in my life, won’t do a single soul any harm (and it’s [...]
A malaise all its own
Long ago, when I taught political science to undergraduates I would stress the importance of assessing the spirit of any [...]
Zoom the therapist
Talking to my friends recently gave me all the proof I needed that we've entered the time of "covidity," which [...]