How to Ignore the Crumbling of the Body—and the Body Politic
What does “crumbling” mean anyway? “Breaking or falling apart into small fragments, especially as part of a process of deterioration…. Disintegrating.
Society & Culture
Ten Rules for the New Administration…from the Emus
In the first official inter-species war on record...the emus won. Our new president might want to heed their advice.
Pathologize Hardship, and the Rest of Us Are Off the Hook
We have been made to feel fragile. But life is hard and precarious, and that is not an automatic risk for mental illness.
The Age of Subtraction
She bought Stephen Sondheim a bottle of the best gin--then saw him pouring white wine. This was, they sighed, the Age of Subtraction.
The Sexual Fantasies Gillian Anderson Collected Will Break Your Heart
I expected women's fantasies to be sensuous and subtle .... Instead they made me want to weep.
What Happens When an AI Jesus Steps in for the Clergy
A young pastor said, “I was positively surprised how well it worked.” All he missed, he added, was emotion and spirituality.
Flat Out of Luck
Listening to a brilliant man who is living in his car, I have, in rapid succession, every reaction I deplore in others.
This Is No Time for Cynicism
The Great Capitulation has begun. A cynical shrug could entrench it.
What Lies Beneath “Dignity”
Why the French value dignity and the United States despises it. (Only a slight exaggeration.)
Radiant Mischief at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame
Do conservative Catholics even realize what inspired these gorgeous vestments?