Notebook
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 [...]
The Italian dream conversation
I have found myself up against a reality I thought had set aside when I returned to the United States [...]
Rethinking the Vikings
An algorithm recently suggested that I learn about the Vikings. I took its advice and have just finished listening to [...]
When you become her
I usually avoid mirrors. But one caught me unawares the other day. To my surprise, the person in I saw [...]
The mind traveler
The last 12 months have been no time for travel, with 2021 looking not much better. To avoid quarantine regulations, [...]
Don’t call me Trump
During his successful 2016 run for the White House, and well into the early part of his presidency, Donald Trump [...]
On art and Elders
Some years ago, President Barack Obama ruffled feathers when he used art history as an example of an unproductive — [...]
Parsing a Republican past
I grew up in Rockford, Illinois, in shouting distance of free-market guru Milton Friedman’s Chicago. The “Paleo-conservative” movement, focused largely [...]
Turn, turn, turn
It was a few days ago that I noticed it in the garden. Welcomed by the sun's heat, flashes of [...]
Forwarding the past
Last tine around I wrote about the pain of performing triage on a lifetime of possessions and my fear that [...]
The name of the past
Three years ago I packed up the contents of my Milan home and moved back to the United States. For [...]
The garment district
As restrictions on lockdowns lift, those who have enjoyed the last few months in perpetual pajamas or sweatpants may be [...]
“Notebook” Author
Madeleine Johnson
A Midwesterner, writer Madeleine Johnson lived in Milan for two decades before recently moving to New Hampshire.