The Democratic Dream of the White Daddy and the Dream Suitor It just happened. I got called a bigot by two angry Facebook posters on a friend’s thread. My comment? That I don’t support Joe Biden for president because of his own actions. I wouldn’t refuse to live next door…

Okay. I’m going to write this. I really don’t want to. It’s Labor Day. I start my college teaching again tomorrow, and I just want my last, sweet day off. …

Mean Boys Tina Fey nailed the cult of girl cruelty in her iconic film, Mean Girls. But what about mean boys? These were the guys who terrorized us on the bus, in the playground, everywhere our teachers or parents weren’t looking. When we were young they were loser boys who…

Trump Won Because We Wanted Him To I should clarify what I mean by we. I mean the United States as a society. I know we have micro-societies, and it’s hard to speak of a group of people so numerous and diverse as one society, but our national elections ask…

When I was first introduced to Tom Stoppard’s brand of puckish wisdom with Rosencrantz and Gildenstern are Dead my ears pricked up like a puppy’s — a new master had moved into my neighborhood. We have a tradition in my family to see a play for my birthday, and several…

Among the five basic tastes, sweet, sour, savory, salty, and bitter, we are most sensitive to bitterness, probably because bitter foods are often poisonous, so we evolved with tongues sensitive to danger. And yet, sometimes we seek out the bitter, in coffee, bitter chocolate, and beer. Jews are required to…

Smashing Knowledge: Kristallnacht in America I have been teaching the great classical epics in my community college mythology class, as I have for roughly thirty semesters. For years I have met my class on Tuesday evenings in the same room, Southampton 29. In fact, this semester a student confided that…

(With thanks to Maxine Hong Kingston) I honor the woman-warrior. I honor HRC, a worldwide symbol of the dream of female autonomy. And Harriet Tubman. And Toni Morrison. And Wonder Woman and Gal Gadot, the woman who plays her. I honor Maxine Hong Kingston for her beautiful phrase, and Arundhati…

Dear George Clooney, Shut Up Dear George Clooney, you may look cute in a tuxedo, but when you open your mouth, you lose me. And those who compare you to Cary Grant don’t remember the real thing. You aren’t even original. You are just one in a long line of…