#63 / Branching Out
Hey everyone, I can’t tell you how nice it feels to start doing normal-life things again. The pandemic is not over, and I really hope that countries like...
#62 / Why Jews Need to Talk About Palestine
Heads up: this is slightly longer than what I normally write here, and it’s also pretty heavy. Neither of those statements should be read as an apology; just...
#61 / Saying Goodbye
Hey y’all, We just arrived home after a ten-hour drive back from northern Minnesota, so this will be brief. Ashley’s grandmother, Ann, passed away at her...
#60 / The Best Way to Improve The World
Hey everyone, When it comes to how I invest my time, there’s this pattern I engage in. I have a lot of different interests, a lot of groups I’d like to be...
#59 / Road Tripping
Hey everyone, I drove home safely from Omaha on Friday, and I listened to several more episodes of the History of English podcast along the way. One of my...
#58 / Weekly Gods and Goddesses
Hello and greetings from Omaha, I am in town to visit my family for the first time in 17 months, and it is nice to be back. The drive in from Chicago was...
#57 / Short Cuts
Hey y’all, My second vaccine shot is in the books! As I understand it, this now makes me invincible against all disease, and also impervious to ice falling...
#56 / The Whole Enchilada
Hey everyone, I was listening to the Minutemen’s Double Nickels on the Dime this week when I realized I had never seen a picture of Mike Watt before....
#55 / Don't Be a Guy
Hi everyone, Today is my birthday! It has been a very nice birthday, even though none of the basketball games are going the way I want them to go. I got...
#54 / Time to Breathe
Hey y’all, To be honest, I was reluctant to write about this, because I didn’t want to feel like I was bragging. But I also want to set a good example, and...
#53 / March 11, 2020
Hey all, Considering the college basketball season was cancelled last year and we never got a March Madness, which is one of my favorite things in life, I...
#52 / Fox in Lox
Hey everyone, Last spring I mentioned a workshop I was enrolled in, where the idea was to bring together a bunch of people working in different creative...
#51 / Pandemic Psychology
Hey y’all, So many people I’ve talked to over the last few weeks have reported that February’s been a slog. I have felt this, too. It seems to take extra...
#50 / On the Journey
Hey everyone, We are traveling in the Minnesota Northwoods this weekend, so this will be a shorter edition. It is surprisingly warm, if you consider 30...
#49 / A Certain Ease
Hi all, I attended a Zoom funeral service this week. It was as beautiful as is possible for a service on Zoom to be. My aunt Ruth (Paperny) Luttbeg died at...
#48 / Bohemian Rhapsody
I don’t care for Paris. That sounds ungodly pretentious, I know. Paris is a fine place–I was lucky enough to visit it for a couple days, when I was...
#47 / What Do Hasidic Swordfighters and Thurgood Marshall Have In Common?
Hey everyone, What do Hasidic swordfighters and Thurgood Marshall have in common? They're both in my newsletter this week. I’m coming to you this week from...
#46 / The King
Hey y’all, Did this feel like a very long week to anyone else? I was even lucky enough to have the day off work on Monday for Martin Luther King Day, and it...
#45 / Means Tested
Hey everyone, Sports!!! Patrick Mahomes II @PatrickMahomes #HenneThingIsPossible Jan. 17, 2021, 11:06 p.m. (I wanted to plug the Kansas City Chiefs’ big NFL...
#44 / Exploring the Depths
Hi everyone, I don’t have a whole lot to add to what you’ve probably already read about this week’s insurrection (what a strange thing to type). It also...
