Here we are, yet again

I'm often reminded of an early Stephen King tweet, from not long after he started a Twitter page. He bemoaned the fact that he was authoring his first tweet but had nothing to say - "Some writer," he wrote, "that I turned out to be."

The soft science of “turning to wonder” (and its role in talking about politics).

(Part II of my end-of-year reflections.) At our final dinner event of the year, each of the "Road Fellows" in my program was asked to reflect on an experience or theme which defined our eleven months of participation. To say that leaves a considerable stock of options available is an understatement. As I reflected, my...

Belittling fields of study like Gender Studies doesn’t make you witty, but it might make you an @$$hole.

Anti-intellectualism sometimes couches itself in a cultural form of (faux?) common-sense conservatism. Stop me if you've heard this one before: Ha! Maybe there would be more women in STEM fields if there weren't so many gender studies majors. Sometimes, we identify real, quantifiable economic and social trends but we misidentify what they mean. For instance, when...

My pieces for other mediums (the thought-dump).

Because this site is a late product, I haven't been updating it with the pieces I've written over the last few months through Young Voices. This is a brief list of each of the pieces I've written. As I continue publishing in other mediums, I'll begin updating the blog with links and further commentary. In...

7 Things the Person who Wrote “7 Things Fiscally Conservative but Social Liberal People Don’t Understand…” Doesn’t Understand

Not the smoothest title I've penned, but hey. Every now and then, this article finds its way on my news feed: 7 Things 'Fiscally Conservative but Socially Liberal' People Don't Understand, by Greta Christina. I'm quite the fan of Everyday Feminism, but sometimes the things they share baffle me (this was posted, originally, on AlterNet)....

Reflections from the Road Pt. 1 – Change systems, but remember individual acts of justice (and do them!)

I came out of this year with a host of different views of the world. As I prepare to leave Atlanta, I reflect on what I've learned about the world, myself, and the future. It's hard to believe it's nearly here. In less than a month, I will be leaving Atlanta. Goodbyes are always hard...

No, the government programs you like (and hate) aren’t socialist.

And you probably aren't either. I've seen a recent trend on social media that mirrors some poll results we saw around the election: folks on the center-left - those we call liberals or progressives - are talking a lot about socialism. A poll taken in New Hampshire back in February found that over half of Democratic...

Do celebrity suicides hurt more? Distilled thoughts on Chris Cornell

(CW: This is a reflection on suicide, depression, substance abuse, and related topics. I'd love for you to read this piece but if you do, please proceed with appropriate self-care as needed.) I learned about Chris Cornell's death early, early in the morning. I'd rolled over to check my phone after a bad dream had startled...