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.
Dispatches
Why Pink Is So Complicated
I felt strong, refusing the Barbie color. But I denied myself too lavishly.
Sasquatch and Holthouse
Given David Holthouse’s quest in ‘Sasquatch,’ he himself is the subject of one of my old, scarcely believable memories. This memory is not potent enough to send me on an investigation worthy of a documentary series, but the coincidence spurs me at least to commit it to writing.
Excellent Days
‘Perfect Days’ (2023), directed by Wim Wenders, challenges us, starting with its title, to consider what it means to live an enlightened, fulfilled life.
The Solace of a Half-Empty Photo Album
Somewhere between pages 25 and 30, showcasing my daughter’s fourth-grade photo and Christmas of 2015, the images cease, as if my photo album took a different route from my own at some mysterious fork in time. Somehwere between the physical world and the ether of the digital, years slipped away, as if they never took form.
We Owe Our Lives to Some Bugs that Ate the Sun
For ten points, name the central event in the history of life.
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.
Who Is Afraid of the Bible?
Through centuries of existence, in a multitude of translations, and in myriad versions and bindings, the Bible has never mustered victory in any battle besides sheer force of influence. Even then, and up against all the glories and benefits its believers promise, it still finds plenty of ways to fall short. Put both of those qualities together, and you get a book everyone should read, even in taxpayer-funded public schools.
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 Headband Makes a Comeback
Trained to respect a look that requires, then conceals, significant effort, women learned to mistrust anything that was just plain easy.