“Who would do such a thing?” Answer: all of us. We have all harmed, and we have all healed. That simple truth makes answering the second question easy: “Is humanity inherently bad or good?” — My daughter flew back to college this week, and arrived late at night to find her car’s window smashed in, glass sprayed all over both front seats. Money from the center console was missing. …

And Why We Believe Them — Now that the holidays are in the rearview mirror, it feels like the right time to bring up the subject of lying. Everywhere I turn, I’m seeing accusations of lying: The media are lying! Governments are lying! Politicians are lying! Doctors! Pharmaceutical companies! Hospitals! Statisticians! Anti-vaxxers! Vaxxers! I could keep going… But I don’t want to wade into that muck. We all know that there are many, many reasons to lie, and that our world right now is steeped in prevarications of all sizes, shapes, and intentions.

Letting go of fear: a lesson from “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” — In honor of the holiday season and my earlier post on Dr. Seuss, I’d like to dive into the inner lives of the Whos down in Who-ville. How the Grinch Stole Christmas is buried so deep in the American cultural lexicon that you’d have to work like a dog to avoid the basic gist. For those workers, here’s a handy synopsis. What I want to examine is what I’m calling “the missing pages”…

A Reminder — Darkness always hangs heavy this time of year, but it seems even weightier now. Our world is deep in turmoil: seas of humanity rising up to protest on multiple continents, only to crash on the indifferent shores of their elected governments; individuals censored for sharing their expertise or their personal experiences; friendships and families rent by private decisions made public… and the list goes on.

Fear, Dr. Seuss, and my migration to Substack — If you’ve read any of my previous work, it will not come as a surprise to you that I prefer to write in metaphor. There are plenty of reasons to do so, but I’ll admit: the one that drives me hardest… is fear. That’s right. I’m often too afraid to…