Utah Phillips: The most American thing you can do is to dissent
The state can’t give you freedom, and the state can’t take it away. You’re born with it, like your eyes, like your ears. Freedom is something you assume, then you wait for … Continue reading
Alexis de Tocqueville: Democracy in America
I do not know if the people of the United States would vote for superior men if they ran for office, but there can be no doubt that such men … Continue reading
Vanessa German: The Barber’s Chair
got the Sunday morning haircut at the neighborhood barber shop.talkin pittsburgh.weather.where you from and are your kids ok.the barber man speaks to the atmosphere of my heart and my eyelashes.he … Continue reading
Michael Simms: Why Donald Trump?
Liberals and leftists in America consistently underestimate the political savvy of the leaders on the right. We forget that presidential elections are not decided by reasoned debate in which important … Continue reading
The Vegan Kitchen: Crispy Fried Tofu
Sometimes even vegans crave the toothiness of chicken strips on a salad or thin fried beef with your noodles and veggies. For years I tried to use tofu as a … Continue reading
Video: Laughter as Medicine
What effects do laughing, crying, kissing, cuddling, and sex have on immune function and allergic responses?
Doug Anderson: Waiting for the Marriage Counselor
The skeletal bride and groom in the little glass box. The sugar skulls. Let us love one another and not wake the graveyard with our bickering. How we make war … Continue reading
Neal Gabler: How the Media Enabled Donald Trump
“I’ve never seen anything like this, and this is going to be a very good year for us. Sorry. It’s a terrible thing to say. But, bring it on, Donald. … Continue reading
Paul Christensen: In the Dead of Winter
The coldest air yet of this erratic winter has settled down over the house and the little stand of trees beside us. I came out this morning to get the … Continue reading
Jose Padua: For the Famous Writers School and All the Hungry Years to Come
By the time my mother had placed the ad from The Famous Writers School on the dining room table for me to see— the ad that asked “Are you one … Continue reading
Sofia Ali-Khan: Dear Non-Muslim Allies
I am writing to you because it has gotten just that bad. I have found myself telling too many people about the advice given to me years ago by the … Continue reading
Mattea Kramer: Killing Someone Else’s Beloved
Promoting the American Way of War in Campaign 2016 The crowd that gathered in an airplane hangar in the desert roared with excitement when the man on stage vowed to … Continue reading
Walt Whitman: On Poetry and Democracy
At all times, perhaps, the central point in any nation, and that whence it is itself really sway’d the most, and whence it sways others, is its national literature, especially … Continue reading
Patricia A. Nugent: Give Me Hill!
I’m uncomfortable when people pronounce Bernie Sanders unelectable. It unfairly dismisses his followers’ potential to succeed and short-circuits his right to promote his platform. If he’s the nominee, I want … Continue reading
