Almost a hundred years ago, the great American author Sinclair Lewis wrote a political novel called “It Can’t Happen Here.” The 1935 book was a warning that what was happening then in Europe — the rise of fascism and Nazism — could come to America in the form of a Hitler-type politician who gets elected […]

I’ll go out on a limb and take a wild guess that you didn’t watch Nikki Haley make a fool of herself on TV two weekends ago. I was reminded of a sentence penned centuries ago by none other than the Marquis de Sade: “Those who have no principles are never more dangerous than when […]

“So, Dan — what are you doing tonight?” After 40-plus years, I can still hear one of my best friends from college asking that dreaded question. No matter how many homework assignments, romantic entanglements and writing deadlines occupied my plate, Jack would invariably cajole me into some series of nerdy antics. I have felt guilty […]

It appears some Republican donors are really concerned that presidential candidate Tim Scott, South Carolina’s junior senator, is a 57-year-old bachelor — and whatever implications that may entail. Top party donors are raising concerns about the fact the conservative Black senator has never been married. and want some of their concerns about the matter addressed […]

A powerful earthquake that hit close to the medieval city of Marrakech in Morocco on Sept. 8, 2023, has killed thousands and injured many more. It has also put at risk buildings and monuments of major historic importance, among them the minaret of the Kutubiyya mosque, a 12th-century structure that is an icon of the […]

Is there anyone out there who can possibly explain to me who invented al dente foods? Who was the sadist who decided we should turn off the stove before our food was fully cooked so pasta and rice grains had a hard core? That we ought to not continue boiling them until they are edible? […]

Maui matters. It matters to Maine and probably many other places. That’s because Hawaiian Electric, the utility that serves the island, has become the focus of concerns that it was a major cause of the fires that disastrously swept a part of that Pacific island. The utility’s downed wires probably caused extensive fires that were […]

What do Henry Ford, the Wright brothers, the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia and a machine called “the boneshaker” have in common? They are all part of the story of bicycling in America, a story deeply enmeshed in the social, cultural and geographical history of this country in the last century and a half. During […]

For me, this time of year is very special. It is not just the gentle fading of summer and the brisk advent of autumn. It is the annual return of students and teachers to the classroom — a timeless ritual like the leaves falling from the trees and the loons migrating south. Many decades ago, […]