Latest from the blog
The Swerve
I picked up The Swerve to get closer to the Epicurean ideas of Lucretius. I expected an intellectual history. But Stephen Greenblatt’s book is not that. Or, it is not only that. It... READ MORE
Cicada Haiku
Rip Van Winkles from our remembered past, link to an unsure future; prime number of years separating us from what has been and will be. Predictable: no arcane algorithm, just layman’s... READ MORE
Ecstatic Coda to a Cyclical Existence
CICADAS Ceding seclusion, They escape their dank caves of seventeen years, Scrape and dig unaided skyward, Seek the shady side of leaf or stick, Stick there upside-down all day, Squeeze achingly, red... READ MORE
This Is Not a History Book
THIS IS NOT A HISTORY BOOK. THIS IS A BOOK ABOUT THE HERE AND NOW. A BOOK ABOUT RACE. So the publisher announces on the back of Jason Reynolds’ and Ibram X. Kendi’s... READ MORE
Below the Surface
Antisemitism in the nation’s capital, circa 1928, was “below the surface,” according to Ronald Clark, William Friedman’s biographer. Latent, yet also “ever-present.” There was an “us-them feel,” he wrote, and William Friedman was... READ MORE
America’s First Couple of Codebreaking
William and Elizebeth Friedman were husband and wife codebreakers. The Man Who Broke Purple and the Woman Who Smashed Codes: they were, and still are, cryptography’s power couple. Some may argue that William... READ MORE