Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
MARCH 1, 2026 – By all appearances, we’re well into the post-democracy phase of American history. On the surface, this can be quite discomforting, especially for us who’ve been convinced that the sky has been falling since January 20 of last year. But from a broader perspective, the current crisis, if you will, is not …
FEBRUARY 6, 2026 – This morning I addressed one of the two certainties in life—the one that starts with “T”. One thing led to another, however, and soon I was off on numerous financial tangents. Two of these required busting through online security barriers. I’ve grown quite accustomed to these, but in the cases at …
FEBRUARY 4, 2026 – (Cont.) The fight over the civil rights plank of the Democratic platform at the 1948 convention was the capstone of Into the Bright Sunshine. The rest of this riveting book was divided into three parts: a detailed account of the shocking level of racism against the relatively small Black population of …
FEBRUARY 3, 2026 – (Cont.) The dramatic conclusion of Into the Bright Sunshine features the clash between advocates of civil rights and protectors of states’ rights at the 1948 Democratic Convention in Philadelphia. In that era, party platforms carried far more weight than they do today, and the intra-party fight over the civil rights plank …
FEBRUARY 2, 2026 – On July 6, 2016 Philando Castile was shot and killed by a policeman during a routine traffic stop here in Minnesota. The shooting occurred less than half a mile from our quiet, leafy, liberal—and by way of our complacency, racist—town of Falcon Heights (pop. 5,200). Within a single news cycle, news …
JANUARY 11, 2026 – Thursday evening I hosted a rump session of my book club. (Two of our five members were MIA, which might have been a referendum on the host’s book selection, The Man Who Loved China, by Simon Winchester (See my 8/20/25 post – https://writemakesmight.net/ub-and-the-man-who-loved-china/ ). As is so often the case with …
DECEMBER 14, 2025 – When the most recent wintry fusion of deep freeze, cold wave, cold snap, polar vortex, and Alberta Clipper descended upon this region of the world, I thought I’d supplement my other reading by strapping on a pair of snowshoes and venturing into David Halberstam’s highly acclaimed, New York Times bestseller, The …
NOVEMBER 28, 2025 – In brief residence in the home of our two-year-old grandson, I’m impressed by the library of children’s books that surround him. More to the point, I’m envious: half the books are in French and half are in English, which reflects his bilingual language development. The kid’s parents, as well has his …
NOVEMBER 19, 2025 – Today I raced to the last page of, November 1942 – An Intimate History of the Turning Point of World War II by the Swedish historian and journalist, Peter Englund. As the last words reverberated inside my head, I closed the book, rose out of my chair, and peered out the …
OCTOBER 11, 2025 – Our favorite (at least until the next one arrives) granddaughter is a regular reminder that however we might feel about the prospects—for the health of the earth’s biosphere, the survival of democracy in America (such as it has been), global peace and security in the short run, intermediate term or long …
SEPTEMBER 5, 2025 – One common phenomenon among us “older folks” is being continually awestruck by the sheer volume of knowledge that lies beyond our capacity to encounter, let alone absorb. This sounds naively quaint. It’s the same order of naiveté as entering the Library of Congress and saying (out loud), “Geez Louise but this …
AUGUST 22, 2025 – Yesterday I wrote about mastery, and as I pondered that concept further today, I thought of its companion—specialization. Just as I can claim mastery over very little in life, so too I lack any notable specialization. Sure, you could consider me a “real estate lawyer” professionally or go out on a …
AUGUST 20, 2025 – Today “UB” would’ve turned 102. He didn’t do too bad in the longevity column, having lived just 44 days shy of 95. I remember exactly where I was when I received the call—walking down a broad corridor of Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, awaiting a flight back to the U.S. A hospice …
AUGUST 18, 2025 – I wouldn’t have it any other way—a week-long visit by our out-of-town two-year-old grandson . . . and his parents. The little one was on hand for his second birthday, and every new word (e.g. “Gosh”) and attempt at a new phrase (e.g. “Geezlouise”) brought us one delight after another. Only …
AUGUST 14, 2025 – If you’re feeling glum about our nation’s prospects, I invite you to take a close look at China from 1937 to the present. Why China and why during that period? For its extreme example of our resilience as a species. Many other examples exist, but none on the scale or to …
MAY 13, 2025 – A few days ago I finally finished reading The Crimean War by the British historian, Orlando Figes. I’d mentioned this book several months ago on this blog and remarked that prior to “going back to college” to study Russian history, I was as ignorant as the next American about the Crimean …
MAY 12, 2025 – Publishing a book is not a casual undertaking. Writing the darned thing isn’t even the half of it. In the case of the all the histories I read, a vast amount of scholarship precedes the drafting. Before delving into each book, I check out the author’s bibliography, which reflects what kind …
APRIL 4, 2025 – One morning earlier this week I finished reading Ivan Turgenev’s masterpiece, Fathers and Sons. It was a “slow race” to the finish, meaning I couldn’t resist pressing forward at the same time I wanted to hold back to savor every morsel. A few minutes before the end, I’d told my wife …
MARCH 12, 2025 – (Cont.) I was never the literary cognoscente that my sisters and bros-in-law Chuck and GK are or that my late bro-in-law Dean and my parents were. To the extent heretofore I’ve read literature generally or Russian literature specifically, I’ve never explored the background of any writer—just as I never concerned myself …
MARCH 10, 2025 – (Cont.) Nicholas was single-minded in his pursuit of architectural grandeur and lavish performances inside his multiple theaters—at his estates of Kuskovo, Ostrakino, and Markovo, outside Moscow, his dacha at Champêtre near St. Petersburg, and his most ambitious project, the Palace of the Arts in Moscow. For the Palace, he acquired the …
MARCH 9, 2025 – This evening I finished devouring a most fascinating book, The Pearl by Douglas Smith. It was recommended enthusiastically by Theofanis the Great—better known as Professor Stavrou, le tour de force of Russian history at the University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts. In his introductory lecture a month ago, he assigned …
MARCH 6, 2025 – About a year ago I was driving home one evening with the radio on. This was good timing, since the programming happened to feature an interview with Adam Frank, author of The Little Book of Aliens, which I mentioned in my March 1 post. When this month’s host of my book …
FEBRUARY 9, 2025 – (Cont.) First, let’s take those first 150 pages of the 680-page history tome. The book is A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn. I’m positive that several of my readers have read all 680 pages of it; that additional readers know of the book and are generally familiar …
JANUARY 10, 2025 – Lately, each morning while I consume my porridge,[1] I pore over a coffee-table-size book bearing the expansive title, History of the World Map by Map. It’s as much an historical atlas as it is a sweeping narrative of epochs and empires, movements and migrations that have shaped the world of homo …
JANUARY 4, 2025 – (Cont.) Trotsky and his family arrived in the Bronx just as real estate development—mostly in the form of eminently affordable apartment buildings—was taking off. Thanks to extensions of cheap and easy public transportation from Manhattan, many residents of the crowded tenements of the Lower East Side who were employed in the …