On the Coarsening of Public Discourse
I spent a couple weeks trying to draft one of my Messages from the Founder about students not reading whole texts in school (or out of school for that matter)…
Writer’s Block
Wasn’t it fortunate and timely, I thought, that just when words started to be the news — as opposed to simply being used to record and report the news —…
Words Under Threat
My instinctive reaction to the broad, undifferentiated cuts to federal departments and programs was skepticism and distress. Would the cuts affect the cleanliness of our air and water, the safety…
Keeping Our Word in the Face of Meta’s Changes
When Elon Musk took over Twitter, he reinstated accounts of people who frequently had plied misinformation on the site, and he seemed unconcerned about the platform’s takeover by people with…
Fed Up with Lies
As flood waters swirled around people’s homes and yards along with spiraling rumors and disinformation about emergency rescue services, I became fed up — fed up with the lies that…
Dignity or Contempt? How One Simple Tool Could Transform America’s Dialogue
After two assassination attempts against former President Trump and unease in Springfield, Ohio, after false accusations that immigrants there were eating pets, it’s the right time to think about toning…