I've been writing about travel, food, parenting, culture, and whatever else strikes my fancy for a few decades now. Once upon a time, I was the NYT's Frugal Traveler. I live in Brooklyn, obviously.
Language
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Nov 19, 2025
How irony can help us walk back our conspiratorial thinking.
Sci-Fi
Nov 17, 2025
Our bodies, our brains, our planet, our women? What their fictional desires reveal about our own failings — and whether 'Pluribus' and 'Bugonia' get it right.
Nov 14, 2025
You are welcome, even encouraged, to spread it around.
Writing
Nov 10, 2025
When a project is about anything and everything, it's also about nothing — and who'd want to read that?
Nov 6, 2025
Four short, sharp takes — plus a special appearance by a guest poet.
Nov 3, 2025
But you can still use your stupid brain to try!
Oct 31, 2025
Hundreds of thousands of words later, what's to become of this newsletter?
Pop Culture
Oct 29, 2025
For me, live-action movies and TV will always be secondary.
Oct 23, 2025
His writing shaped my life, and he's now at a literary and cultural apex. But is the mysterious postmodernist's work still any good?
Death
Oct 14, 2025
Don't worry, death isn't coming for you quite yet.
Politics
Oct 3, 2025
Yawning reflections of a radical left Democrat.
Travel
Oct 2, 2025
I built my career on artful narratives of adventure. But was I lying to my readers — and to myself?
The Future
Sep 19, 2025
Does "When in doubt, cut it out" apply to body parts? Asking for, uh, a friend.
Food
Sep 16, 2025
And it taught me the meaning of life.
Sep 12, 2025
My recollection of the past is crisp but scattered. Will a pile of ancient photos make sense of it all?
Sep 5, 2025
The wild ancestor of today's cattle went extinct in 1627. But, uh, like, what if it didn't?
Sep 3, 2025
My brain makes it hard to live in the moment, but there's one place I've found I can truly be present: the highway.
Aug 26, 2025
It's vulgar. It's offensive. But it's the only term that truly describes our moment.
Aug 25, 2025
The original rock-and-roller has inspired dozens of tunes, but which are worth listening to?
Aug 14, 2025
I've been saving up some choice complaints — just for you, dear reader.
Aug 11, 2025
Why it's so impossible to talk about the subjects that matter.
Aug 8, 2025
We're all antisemites now — even you, even me.
Aug 6, 2025
'I hate poetry,' I used to say, half joking and half serious. But which half was which?
Aug 5, 2025
The end is nigh, dude, but is that any reason to freak out?
Violence
Jul 29, 2025
A deadly serious thought experiment.
