I have a book problem. It’s an excellent problem to have, but I read other people’s books when I want to send more of my own words out in the world. I taught college classes for many years, so I know how to ask questions that inspire people to speak…

Carmen Machado wrote recently on the corrosive fear behind the impulse to ban her memoir In the Dream House from high schools: “I understand that for a parent, it’s almost unthinkable to imagine that your child could experience such trauma. But preventing children from reading my book, or any book…

A compulsion towards self-help and writing guides led me to Gretchen Rubin’s Four Tendencies, and for better or worse, I diagnosed myself as an“Obliger” (= “You can count on me”) plus “Rebel” (= “You can’t make me, and neither can I”). …

I like to spy on people’s grocery purchases. Today on the conveyor belt I noticed a twenty-something buying several produce items, all of them in plastic bags that didn’t need them. A single yellow bell pepper, a bunch of cilantro bundled with a thin wire, a couple of carrots, each…

I admire The Atomic Weight of Love for its ambitious portrayal of feminism, militarism, and sexual awakening, not to mention the intelligence of crows. …

I used to believe in the tidy summaries that listicle headlines promised. Even as I know they’re mostly clickbait, it’s tempting to think I can adopt “3 Proven Formulas” or “Stop Making These 8 Mistakes” and live a perfect and productive life forever after. There’s probably some neuroscientific reason or…

Body Full of Stars captures the gorgeous wonder of new life and love, and shows how these are inescapably entangled with hard work that pushes us to our limits. These days when pregnancy, childbirth and parenting take their place with weddings as a kind of competitive sport among us entitled…

“We can win this battle against hopelessness….Today we are bombarded by technology meant to make our lives better. However, we often find ourselves feeling like we don’t measure up. So please: rise up….Please don’t hang around and do nothing….We need you.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFxF2dWH-N4&feature=youtu.be

Amy Pohler as pollyanna powerhouse Leslie Knope in “Parks and Recreation”, the way Ali Wong nails racist Asians in her Netflix special Baby Cobra, Tina Fey stuffing her face with sheet cake in solidarity. Novelists Toni Morrison, Marilynne Robinson, Natsuo Kirino… Where is the place, and when during a given…