A Major League Baseball story has gotten a lot of headlines (inside and outside the sports section), produced a tsunami of social media incontinence, made it easy for sports hate radio hosts to fill time, and generally annoyed me. (Non-sports fans: bear with me—the story touches on multiple hot spots.) Last week, Adam LaRoche, a […]

I’m exhausted hearing about, reading about, and thinking about the election. But when you stop and think about it, that’s a good thing. I’m engaged. People are engaged. Voter turnout has been strong, although still, in my view, pathetic. (Vote goddammit! Put some skin in the game. Invest. Risk getting burned – or this year […]

I grew up in a household where politics—paying attention to them, thinking about them, and forming reasoned positions—was not sport, it was an obligation as a citizen. My sister volunteered—at the age of 16—for Robert F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign, and after enduring the heartbreak of seeing her candidate murdered, she ended up working for Sen. […]

In 1975 I was 18 and the world was my oyster. Actually, back then I’d never had an oyster, but you know what I mean. I was a freshman in a triple dorm room that was pretty much identical to a double room except it had a bunk bed and three closets. Forbes Hall was […]

Sometimes, it’s good to feel miniscule and in total awe of a much larger world. It’s liberating. It’s enthralling. So that news last week about physicists detecting gravitational waves was good for the soul and the imagination. Sure, it’s healthy to be reminded of our importance, of our power and responsibility to make a difference […]