Perhaps it’s the natural human inclination toward nosiness, but people are always interested in what others are and aren’t buying. Those purchases always invite some kind of judgment, comparison, envy, desire to stay on trend, or some combination of all of the above. What people buy is often a reflection of a bigger picture about […]

If there is one universal treatment that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again sees for all of the country’s medical problems, it’s food.   Borrowing a phrase that has become ubiquitous in health policy circles and the influencer ecosystem that drives so much of our discourse these days around health and wellness, Kennedy has […]

The robots in my building are multiplying. It started with one roughly the size of a doghouse that cleans the floors, and not very well — a commercial-grade Roomba that talks to you if you get in its way. Somehow, I’m always in its way.  My landlord was clearly excited about the new, technical marvel […]

It’s a recurring feature of anti-ICE protests: the presence of pastors, priests, and reverends on the front lines of demonstrations, and behind the scenes, organizing in their communities.  In Chicago last year, religious leaders were pepper sprayed or shot with pepper balls. In Minneapolis this month, they’ve joined protesters in calling for restraint from federal […]

The great Greenland war of 2026 appears to be on hold for the moment.  This week’s World Economic Forum in Davos has been largely overshadowed by President Donald Trump’s demand that the US take control of the Danish territory of Greenland, which set off a rapidly escalating crisis. Heading into the conference, Trump threatened to […]