Vapid and vaunted
There are some words whose definitions you just never forget. One of these is “vapid”, which my mother used to [...]
Wiring up the plot
My favorite COVID conspiracy theory comes from my electrician, Carlo, who was here the other day patching up some rogue [...]
Italy’s on time
Successfully persuading a population that its best interests are best served by getting a vaccine to stop the spread of [...]
A royal education
Every once in a while, my graduate journalism school posts an article about the Italian aristocrat Beatrice Borromeo Casiraghi, a [...]
Unprecedented! Historic! Rebecca!
As some of you may know by now, my 10-year-old daughter takes precocious to another level. She especially loves watching [...]
Seen but not heard
I admit it: I like TV series. They don’t last long, some have artistic merit, while others are funny, or [...]
Too deep
When Alfredo Rampi was trapped in a well near Rome in June 1981, Italy came to a halt.
No final word on masks
It is remarkable, and not at all cheering, that a year into the COVID-19 pandemic there is no definitive word [...]
Back to the Cold War
I started out with World War I. The YouTube lectures and books I consumed while working on a family genealogical [...]
Oh, Wiki, spare us
My 10-year-old daughter Rebecca has become a devotee of Wikipedia. She's renamed her tablet Wiki and spends hours scrolling through [...]
Bound and determined
When I got pregnant nearly four years ago, I was at a crossroads in my life. I’d just been accepted [...]