Flowers Have Mastered the Art of Seduction
The wild and crazy things a flower will do to get laid
By Jeannette Cooperman
The Man Who Saw Missouri’s Beauty
A fresh look at the Katy and Rock Island trails—and the difference they make.
With Relentless Mischief, Life Surprises Us
No matter how tight your friendships, you cannot predict where you will find a burst of empathy and help.
The Curious Importance of the Big Toe
The big toe freed our hands to make art, use tools, carry babies, and write literature. Why do we mock it?
Our Hand-Wringing About the Planet Could Be Hubris
Robinson Jeffers thought even our angst was self-centered. “We must uncenter our minds from ourselves;/ We must unhumanize our views a little.”
The Most Useful, Least Appreciated, Most Stolen Article in the World
Do not underestimate the humble No. 2 pencil.
The Grand Mystery of the Mystery Novel
Why are any of us drawn to twisted or ironic amusements? And if my answer is dark, why would I want to document it? Still, now that I am looking at my predilection straight on, it unsettles me.
Retirement Should Be Festive
Go look for soulmates in Paris, as Martha Gellhorn did. Loosen lifelong inhibitions in Tahiti. Retire in Mexico.
The Son I Created
Before doubt, angst, and a few medical issues canceled our plans to have kids, I always thought I would want a boy. Kindroid can give me one!
Why Food Is Less Healthy and Less Tasty
Nobody mentioned that we would be eating more because we were still craving the kind of taste we barely remembered, and we were still in need of the vitamins and minerals that had been leached from these big juicy hollow tomatoes and this gluteny, mineral-stripped wheat.
Demure, Mindful, Cutesy
I had to know how all this began. A beauty influencer named Jools Lebron (joolieannie on TikTok) posted it, I read first. She was at least funny. “See how I do my makeup for work? Very demure, very mindful…. A lot of you girls go to the interview looking like Marge Simpson and go to the job looking like Patty and Selma. Not demure.”
We Need Reinhold Niebuhr’s Serenity Prayer, ASAP
Admirers of Reinhold Niebuhr have included Martin Luther King Jr., Hubert Humphrey, Jimmy Carter, John McCain, James Comey. “He’s one of my favorite philosophers,” Barack Obama told David Brooks, also a Niebuhr fan.