Reaching Out to Connect with a Gallant Voice from a War-Ravaged Land
As I was being vetted, administrators asked what I would do if my Ukrainian partner wanted to talk about hardships and loss. I said I could listen. What else could I do?
People & Places
Comrades Seek Like-Minded Experts
I stressed I was not interested in joining their group but would like to write about their outdoors training, if they would let me, or else we could just say we had had a nice lunch, and I would go on my way.
Remembering the Remarkable Ray Hartmann
Because I worked for Ray at “The Riverfront Times” for 18 years, my thoughts immediately turned to the many other “RFT” alums who loved and admired him. Over the next several weeks, I contacted more than 50 of my old colleagues and asked them to contribute remembrances of their often life-changing time at the “RFT” and to reflect on Ray’s impact on both them and St. Louis. Almost everyone said yes, and this tribute is the result. —Cliff Froehlich
Comedian Tim Robinson Reveals the Humanity of the Absurd and the Absurdity of Being Human
When Tim Robinson in his poorly fitting outfit that he most likely refers to as his “work clothes” describes an incident in which a monster barrels through his doggy door, we laugh. But when he points at the camera and screams “WHAT DID THEY DO TO US?!” who can laugh? Who, honestly, can write him off as absurd?
The Curious Bondage of Inattentiveness
The French philosopher, Michel de Montaigne, writing in “Of Friendship,” imagines friendship as a bond so complete it resists explanation. It is difficult to read that text now without noticing how much it assumes proximity, continuity, and a shared life that does not fracture across distance.
“Mambo ya Congo,” or Things Happen in Congo
I left Congo. But Congo did not leave me entirely. I came to the United States not long after. There were moments when the fear came back. But I had learned something in Congo about fear. Get closer. Look at it. It is never quite what it appears to be from a distance.
Grassroot Chilean Heritage Workers Emerge From Underground
The women of Lota, Chile, or Lotinas, represent a long feminist movement to preserve cultural memory and reinvigorate the economy of their city. At the end of March 2026, they flew more than 20 hours to be in residency for a week at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), where they led workshops on art “as a tool of historical storytelling and civic activism.”
Learning How to Lose
This was not how I understood myself. I grew up playing everything: basketball, volleyball, soccer, but mostly swimming, where competition felt clean and measurable. You either touched the wall first or you did not.
Remembering the Publisher of “The Riverfront Times” and “St. Louis Magazine”
Anybody who knew Ray knew that Ray liked to do most of the talking. I could never get very far into any of these stories before the conversation turned to something that Ray was more interested in than his influence on me (which, indeed, there was no reason why he should care about this stuff nearly as much as I do). Ray may not have been the best listener, but he always had a lot to say, and what he said made an enormously positive difference in St. Louis.
Ray Hartmann: A Loss for All of Us
He had integrity, always. He could be sly and mischievous, and he had a sizable ego, and he could drive you crazy, coming round on deadline day to rehearse his topic for Donnybrook at length. But he came round to all of us because he wanted all angles, all opinions. By the time he wrote or spoke on air, he sounded sure and strong, because he had researched and read and listened all week.