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  • A Decline in Reading Skills Makes Geese for the Plucking

    A Decline in Reading Skills Makes Geese for the Plucking1

    A teacher-friend of mine recently expressed sadness over the stagnation of her students. Before the pandemic she could see students steadily gaining ground. Now she was seeing zero progress on their tests—and maybe even some declines. Tests aren’t everything, she admitted, yet after struggling through online teaching and masks and other troubles, she was disheartened

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  • We Need Hard Words to Speak About Hard Realities

    We Need Hard Words to Speak About Hard Realities0

    The radio news hour plays in my car: a calm, dispassionate voice, more background noise than anything. It suddenly registers that a segment on Senate Bill 8 regarding Texas abortion law—now known as the Texas Heartbeat Act—has started. My young children are in the back seat, so I turn the radio off before they become

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  • The Three Traits Warren Buffett Looks for in an Employee

    The Three Traits Warren Buffett Looks for in an Employee0

    From time to time I speak to young professionals trying to make their mark on the world in politics, academia, or journalism. The question I encounter the most is this: “What’s the best career advice you give to young people trying to make it.” My answer often touches on the importance of perseverance, because it’s

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  • Waking Up in Dunderland

    Waking Up in Dunderland0

    Recently I stumbled across Alberto Manguel’s A Reader on Reading in my public library and brought the book home. As I skimmed the pages, I became aware that Manguel had used quotations from Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass to introduce each of his chapters.            Over the last

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  • Breaking Bread Together: Community Begins With Simple Acts

    Breaking Bread Together: Community Begins With Simple Acts0

    It was Christmas dinnertime in Pittsburgh, and the four of us singleton 50-something guys and a 30-something couple were standing in a circle, hands joined, in a former rectory’s kitchen. Humans were made to crave community connections. But despite more government spending on social programs each year, we’re increasingly isolated; some even say we’re facing

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  • Down the Tubes: Our Bungled Healthcare System

    Down the Tubes: Our Bungled Healthcare System0

    For a good while now, a California nurse, whom I’ll call “Sally,” has sent me occasional emails and texts regarding the abysmal state of our healthcare system, particularly in hospitals such as the one where she works. In a recent text, she told me that her hospital is having to ration certain medications because of

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