I’ve told this story before. Theodore Dreiser gave a lecture at a university where a young man seated in the audience was writing his doctorate on Dreiser’s, Sister Carrie. After the presentation, the student collared the author to talk about his dissertation, hoping to validate h

Browsing the internet, I discovered a story concerning identical twins. They were separated when one of them was lost in a market and never returned to her South Korean family.  Instead, an American couple adopted her and brought her to the United States.  Years later, when she was

To read the news is to wonder if the world has gone mad. Autocracy is on the rise, while democracies seem to be stumbling. To be honest, some democracies no longer look like democracies. India and Turkey come to mind.  Russia holds elections, but no one would describe Vladimir Putin

A former NATO commander has advised the United States that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a signal that our country should gear up for war.  Naturally, someone my age who lived through World War II is likely to greet this statement with horror. Worse, the means of fighting a war h

The Fools in Town Are on Our Side, a mystery novel by Ross Thomas, is not only a good read but carries a great title. Today, it could serve as a slogan for the Republicans Party. Two of its leading lights are behaving in a manner that justifies the idea. Testifying in a suit against h

Truth changes with time and distance, but learning is also a factor.  Because of science, we no longer believe the sun revolves around the earth. The brain’s malleability also shapes our understanding of the truth.  In one study, researchers paid Fox news consumers to watch its me

With or without God, nature works in mysterious ways. For example, truth isn’t immutable but is determined by where we stand in time and space.  The giddiness with which truth varies in different parts of the world is mind-boggling. In Florida, a group of seniors lie, cheat, and bu

The article I was reading posed the question, “Can we prove the world isn’t a simulation?”  (by David J. Chalmers, Nautilus, Issue 42, pgs. 47.)  It’s a tech version of a long-established philosophical conundrum, “Can you prove you’re not asleep?” After finishing the a

Unfortunately, the threat of nuclear war looms as possible today as it did when I was a child. I no longer practice hiding under my desk whenever a siren goes off, but I shudder to read Vladimir Putin’s cavalier talk about using nuclear weapons against Ukraine in his stalemated war.

Words matter, and the right words matter most of all, according to writer John Birmingham.  History bears this out. During World War II, Winston Churchill’s speeches galvanized Londoners with hope despite the German Blitzkrieg. Let us, therefore, brace ourselves to our duties, and