How to Stay Present When the Future is Far From Perfect — A patient of mine has been inside for weeks, without so much as taking a daily walk. Like most of us, he’s sheltering in place. Unlike many of us, he seems to be taking it well. Where some of my patients have relied on creature comforts to avoid the uncertainty…

‘Doing’ in the Time of Disease — I started re-reading the first draft of a new novel two weeks ago. The initial pass was genuinely enjoyable. (This is not always true.) Though it had been years since I had worked on a long-form creative project, everything just seemed to click. …

The New Mathematics of Love — There’s a swinger’s club down the street from our apartment. We discovered it after some simple internet research—curious what the windowless bar, named for an infamous sex fiend, might have in the way of a happy hour menu. We found its rules of conduct instead. …

A manifesto for middle-aged creatives — I remember the moment I first felt old. While watching a band that shall remain nameless, I thought the men of a certain age—with their dad bods and hairlines—looked weird playing guitars. Perhaps it was a simple identification—I remember buying their first CD—but the idea persisted. Robert Smith applying lipstick…

The Perverse Psychology of Passing the Buck — Late last March, Senator Mike Lee of Utah addressed the Green New Deal. His speech roundly received the same level of derision he shares for the proposition. Stephen Colbert, for example, dismantled Lee’s performance with his typical satiric clarity. …

Sex, Secrets, and Separation — Kids are hardwired to out-gross each other. The reliable strategy throughout elementary school is to stay scatological. But things change sometime during adolescence. A light switches on. Suddenly the subject turns to sex. The more intrepid kids might audition material about parents having sex (yuck). Some even specify the couple…

On the Mind and Its Many Worlds — In another world, I’m a famous novelist. Resident faculty at a prestigious university and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature (or, at the very least, a Pulitzer). I’m invited to write short stories in the New Yorker and thought pieces in The Atlantic. My wife tears up at award…

How to Not Waste a Good Midlife Crisis — My elementary school teachers often said that—in America—any one of us could become president. I had different plans as it turned out (namely, writing and psychoanalysis). …

Costco, Crowded Subways, and Why New York City Persists — Before moving to New York, I was in town for a bachelor party. We were spending a long weekend upstate and shopping for supplies at a Costco in Queens—a relatively modest location tucked away on the East River. …