Ideas
I grew up during a time of civil war. My childhood was among the casualties.
Conflicts like the one in Ukraine and the one that marred my youth in Burundi create generations of children who aren’t children anymore.
Ideas
A life in hiding from the Taliban
My young sons don’t understand why we haven’t left this safe house in six months. At this holy time of the year, we celebrate only that we remain alive.
Ideas
Our totally healthy true crime obsession
Don’t feel guilty about indulging in a genre that’s been around as long as storytelling itself.
Opinion
How old are you? Don’t ask, don’t tell.
It seemed to them that once a woman passed 30, her age was not only a secret but also shameful. After all, we’d never celebrated our mother’s big birthdays, not 50, 60, 70, or 80. Presents yes, but no countable candles on the cakes.
Opinion
Some thoughts on ‘emerging’
It’s a word that comes up over and over these days when people are talking about COVID-19. Are we emerging from the pandemic? Are new variants emerging? We’d like to meet you for dinner — are you emerging yet?
Opinion
They’re all better than me!
I can barely string together a few hundred words every two weeks, while successful athletes such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, and former big-league outfielder Doug Glanville have written columns that have reached tens of thousands of readers.
Opinion
Observations from a Tocquevillian tour of post-pandemic America
We need to reload the code of the road.
Ideas
Resilient nature amidst the ravages of war
A field biologist in Vermont struggles to reconcile his awe at nature with his horror of the conflict in Ukraine.