Recently, I was a guest on a radio program, Labor Hour, where, with co-hosts Susan Stoner and Lane Poncy, we discussed the future of the labor movement. (Click)  When asked what I thought was the single most important issue facing the workplace, I answered, “robotics” and the thr

My blog of June 23, “Frail And Sensitive Little Bullies,” evoked a number of responses, particularly among Facebook readers.  At issue was the concern a female student shared with her instructor about Ovid’s Metamorphoses. She was a rape victim and feared reading the descriptio

The curtain is down on Woman on the Scarlet Beast and now, after a few months of reflection, I wish to share my thoughts on the experience in the hope it may be of use to some future playwright. Woman on the Scarlet Beast is about the desire for redemption through love.  It revolves

Martin Ford’s new book, Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future is likely to produce as many nightmares as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.  Reviewer Edward Luce in the Financial Times describes it as an apocalyptic warning for the coming decades when “mor

J. C.  Halliman cocks a doubtful eyebrow at novelist Philip Roth’s announcement he has retired from writing. (“The Monk Retires,” The Baffler, Vol. 27, pgs. 184-189.) If so, the essayist wonders, why do we keep seeing him on television or as a speaker at literary events. From t

Entrepreneur Warren Buffet, the nation’s second wealthiest man, (Click) was asked what advice he’d give to his wife about investing if he died before her.  His reply was she should buy  a low cost index fund, preferably from Vanguard. (Click)  An Index fund buys and holds stock

I’ve read so much about the way technology is changing our lives that my eyes glaze when I learn another app is about to revolutionize the work place.  Mostly the trend is to eliminate jobs.  China, for example, has long benefitted from a large population and an abundance of cheap

A few weeks ago, I wrote about a man who found a fish fossil that provided surprising information on evolution. (Blog 7/2/15)  It wasn’t the first time I’d read about some discovery found moldering in the bowels of a museum and I always have to ask myself, “How can an object be

 “…the wedge isn’t what it used to be,” writes columnist, Michael Kingsley.  (“What Do The Simple Folk Do?” Vanity Fair, July 2015, pg. 47.)  By “wedge,”  Kingsley refers to those core values,  like abortion, gun control, prayer in the schools and affirmative acti

Every once in a while, my stockbroker and I have lunch.  We don’t necessarily do it to adjust my investments.  We get together to solve the world’s financial problems.  Right now, the world, according to my broker, looks glum.  He’s especially annoyed with Greece for not pay