Reading between the Links

Reading between the Links

As an aspiring writer and avid reader, I never miss the annual Library of Congress National Book Festival on the National Mall. This year, the best part was seeing one of my favorite authors, Margaret Atwood. Atwood, author of The Blind Assassin, The Handmaid’s...
Battle of the Studies

Battle of the Studies

Before I went to college, my high school advisors strongly encouraged me to choose a “practical” major. Science, technology, engineering, math — any of these fields would lead to a promising career. I rebelled. I chose to study international affairs and...
An Endangered Species Up in Arms

An Endangered Species Up in Arms

As many of you already have intuited, I don’t know everything. Nobody does, I suppose. More importantly, I don’t know everything about anything. I’m what used to be called “a generalist,” someone whose knowledge in any direction is a mile...
Stripping Detroit of Its Remaining Riches

Stripping Detroit of Its Remaining Riches

My old hometown — or, as I like to call it: “The Late Great City of Detroit” — is threatening to add an oak leaf cluster to the badge of humiliation it wears like an Olympic medal. It’s bad enough that the city’s previous mayor is awaiting sentencing on...
The Day the Music Stopped

The Day the Music Stopped

What do bank executives who make $19 million a year do in their spare time? The same thing they do in their executive suites. They squeeze America’s middle class. That’s not, of course, what the flacks at U.S. Bancorp, the nation’s fifth-largest...