Current Affairs
7.27.17 ‘Eyes forward, and beyond’: How to parse the attack on trans military
The attempt to ban transgender people from the military is not to be ignored. But as with anything this administration does, it’s important to think about the why, the why now, and the underlying motive. As we all know, one key MO for this administration is to obfuscate and throw up shiny objects in the…
Read More05.26.17 Aziz Ansari, burritos, and why everything is no longer all about you
As babies, we are the center of the universe. We have to be, in some aspects: we can’t do a whole lot for ourselves, and thankfully most of us have at least one parent around to assure us that yes, all life revolves around our wants and needs. And then we grow up. I remember…
Read More5.4.17 With questions like that, it’s probably best if you stay behind
During a civilized conversation about the state of the nation recently a friend said to me (paraphrasing): “Yes, but all of these things you’re worried about that 45 is doing or thinking of doing — how are they really going to affect you?” I have health care, through my husband’s work. I don’t have kids.…
Read More03.24.17 Terrorism in the era of ‘Black Mirror’: ‘It’s like we’re all living in a movie’
For your perspective consideration, please. I interviewed Charlie Brooker, the creator of “Black Mirror,” the anthology series about the dark forces in ourselves and our technology (catch it on Netflix), Thursday afternoon for an article I’m working on about technophobia in TV series. Needless to say, I was delighted: I’m a big fan of what…
Read More01.31.17 Beyond civil disobedience: Why we need bridge-burners to smoke out Washington’s monsters
Earlier today, I read a Tweet from editor Patrick Nielsen Hayden that said, in part, “Protests are great and should continue but shaming the unshameable isn’t a plan.” He’s right. And we’re going about this all the wrong way. Part of the problem – the true cognitive dissonance many of us have been feeling since…
Read More01.23.17 Kick out the White House press corps? Oh, please do!
The Orwellian playbook the new White House administration has been using now has a new phrase: “alternative facts.” That’s how spokesperson Kellyanne Conway characterized new press secretary Scott Spicer’s assertion of attendance at Friday’s inaugural of the new POTUS. But she also had this gem to add, speaking to “Meet the Press” anchor Chuck Todd:…
Read More1.3.17 ‘I would like to be who my mom has been – not afraid to be a little weird’
I never did get to speak with the late Carrie Fisher or Debbie Reynolds (more’s the pity) but I hear they were cracking gals. The pair died within a day of one another last week, which sent a lot of us into a tailspin, once again shaking our fists at the craptacular way 2016 presented.…
Read More11.12.16 ‘I’m done with you people’
I saw a headline this morning that read something like “Mike Pence doesn’t accept evolution, and here’s why that matters,” here was my reaction: I’m done with you people. Utterly spent, completely done, worn down, nothing but raw bone showing. I think I’ve been done since I went to bed in tears around 11pm on Tuesday…
Read More7.3.16 ‘Some stories are true that never happened’: Notes on my teacher, Elie Wiesel
We try to remember the good things, yet those slip from us. We try to forget the bad things, yet often they become sticky. But to make the choice to stand as a living memory is a bold, courageous decision – and few can be said to have shouldered that burden better than Elie Wiesel.
Read More6.13.16 ‘Til the world turns upside down’
Hamilton comes along at a surly time in American history. We are at a stage where we no longer trust our captains, where we believe everything below decks is made of barnacled, rotting wood. Where we have two people running for the highest office in the land – one Hamilton himself never achieved – one of whom will help steer the course for our country’s future as the world slowly turns upside down.
Read More