A few days ago, I caught a Lyft to Sea-Tac Airport from my home in Seattle. The driver was originally from Eritrea, as are many of the taxi and share drivers I meet here. He told me he emigrated … Read more
At the end of each semester, after all the discussions of craft, I remind my reporting students at the Missouri School of Journalism the why of it all: the larger purpose their journalism serves. By then they have become … Read more
One Saturday morning several years ago, during a substantial storm, my friend and I parted the drapes to enter the sanctuary of a warm restaurant. Snow squeaked behind us as the door to the temporary vestibule stopped short of … Read more
The Memorial Day weekend caught me by surprise. After 16 months of no travel, and a schedule dictated only by this weekly newsletter, I lost the daily rhythm of showing up somewhere for work, and the longer rhythms of … Read more
It has become an all-too-common question, from students and young journalists and even struggling veterans: Why does this work matter if nothing changes? I could spend a lifetime of study and meditation to parse that question, and still find … Read more
It has become a common refrain in these chaotic times: We’re not just reading history; we’re living it. That’s always been true, I suppose, for anyone living at any time. But I expect historians will look back on this … Read more
Today marks the centennial of the 19th amendment, which says “the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any other state on account of sex.” In other … Read more
The big screens on suburban, prairie and desert roadsides once beaconed families and lovers. Now they’re mostly tattered and forlorn, a reminder of America’s midcentury love affair with the open road, the automobile and the Hollywood dream factory. Three years … Read more
When Adam Hochschild started researching the Spanish Civil War a few years ago, he knew it was already the subject of hundreds of books and thousands of articles. Trying to find something new to say about it, he kept returning … Read more
