A friend of mine recently tried an experiment — telling people that because of the failures of the education system, he wanted to “defund the schools.” …

“Americans on the average do not trust intellectuals, but they are cowed by power and stunned by celebrity.” — Viet Thanh Nguyen That pretty much explains our situation now, doesn‘t it? Were They Always Crazy, Or Did Something Happen? What the fuck happened to these people? There are SO many Republican office holders who we used to take…

Back in the day I was a reporter in mid-sized metro areas, and the fear of “brain drain” was significant: our children go to college and they don’t come back. Even local colleges, filled with local students, were often a passport out of town. It was a real thing, everyone…

In a previous newsletter I described what is happening now as an attempted coup that is not serious, but is no less dangerous for being unserious. This week Dahlia Lithwick described the same phenomenon, but did it better. For myself, I am increasingly coming to think of our current political…

We have seen an extraordinary political reversal: in just 30 years, “conservatives” have become full-on postmodern nihilists, denying that there is any objective truth, disparaging the cultivation of virtue, and tearing down institutions that get in the way of the raw exercise of power. …

I think one of the most common assumptions liberals have been making has been holding back their political success, and it needs to be jettisoned — fast. It’s going to be painful, though. For as long as I’ve been aware of political discourse in the United States, the left has…

On election night, the feeling was raw terror at the possibility of rising fascism. It was not considered or curious or even remotely productive. It was just terrified, like an animal discovering it was trapped. In the days that followed, as the counting continued, that feeling changed to a more…

Time, for many people, has become a blur. We lose track of where it’s gone and how we’ve spent it. Days and hours pass through each other, leaving no memories that we can hold or build with. It only passes, and we feel spent. Here’s what I know: When this…

Replacing a used roll of toilet paper now has a ceremonial quality, as if a dirge were being played at the changing of the seasons and a changing of the guard. We had, I think, created such a culture of consumption that we came to think that every item in…