In poll after poll, Americans have voiced their preferences: they want low taxes and lots of government services. So writes Fareen Zakaria, Editor-at-Large of Time, in his essay, “Can America Be Fixed?” (Foreign Affairs, Jan/Feb. 2013 pg. 26) While the author doesn’t answer his

A year ago a Yemeni lawyer responded to a drone attack with anger on Twitter: Dear Obama, when a US drone missile kills a child in Yemen, the father will go to war with you, guaranteed. Nothing to do with Al Qaeda. (“Do Less Harm,” by Sarah Holewinski, Foreign Affairs, Jan/Feb 201

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is an account of the life and execution of two murders, Perry Smith and Richard Hickock. The author described his work as journalistic fiction, a genre he claimed to have created in that he combined the reporting of actual events with high, literary styl

No doubt about it, the Republican Party appears to be in its death throes. A majority of voters is moving in one direction on issues like background checks for gun buyers, gay marriage, immigration and climate change, while the Grand Old Party is  moving in another and acting as a sp

Last week I went downtown for the first time in several years and got stuck in a parking garage. All the employees had vanished and I couldn’t understand how I was to exit. Humans had been replaced by an electronic device that accepted credit cards only.  I must have sat too long r

The other day, I was doing research on invisibility for an upcoming novel. As improbable as it may seem, I found more information than I needed in a matter of seconds — about the same amount of time it must have taken the Boston bombers to learn how to convert a pressure cooker

The other day I received a rejection letter for a short story I’d submitted to a major publication. I assume the editor was being kind when he reminded me that regardless of the merit of my work, I was competing with world famous writers for a single slot in that monthly periodical.

Ever heard of the Danube 7? I hadn’t though I pride myself in being alert to women’s issues. The Danube 7 are Catholic women who felt they were called to the priesthood. They took the same training as their male counterparts and were ordained by church bishops who had the power to

I’m one of those fossils who believes “feminist” is a good word. That’s why I couldn’t resist an invitation to attend a “Lean-In Circle,” recently. A group of professional women were meeting to discuss Sheryl Sandberg’s book, Lean In and to talk about her views on why

The bombings at the Boston Marathon raise a central question. Why, after centuries of fruitless war and genocide, does the human race continue to use violence as a means to settle conflict? Women are less inclined to employ it, but they are by no means immune, (“An Appetite for Aggr