Pundits, historians and Democratic leaders have been sounding warnings about Trump’s threat to American democracy with his turn toward authoritarianism. His regime’s unleashing of masked ICE agents to vastly increase deportations of immigrants has all the earmarks of such a turn. At the same time, citizen reaction to it has been powerful and broad, as … Continue reading Library series: Can democracy survive?
Bridge to a memory: Father’s Day
I don’t recall ever making a fuss about Father’s Day — except for one year when my father announced that he’d like nothing better than a trip to Powder Point.
A warm night and a smarm of mayflies
The photo with this post is a blurry mess — not an attempt at abstract photography, I assure you — because it’s a screenshot from a cell phone video of a swarm of mayflies over the Youghiogheny River in western Maryland. (You can see the swarm on my YouTube channel.) These flies were a mixture … Continue reading A warm night and a smarm of mayflies
Hopkins scholar: Purge in research funding stoked by Trump’s ‘fictional, conspiratorial worldview’
I am augmenting today’s Substack commentary with a brief note here on my WordPress blog to alert as many readers as possible to the Republican rationale for the proposed purge of biomedical research funding. The “big, beautiful” budget bill now before the Senate includes a devastating $18 billion cut to funding for the National Institutes … Continue reading Hopkins scholar: Purge in research funding stoked by Trump’s ‘fictional, conspiratorial worldview’
Out of print: Baltimore crime news of 1940
Here’s another look at what Baltimore newspapers reported to their readers in 1940. From my stash of old papers — The Sun, Evening Sun and News-Post — I find that crime reporting reflects the era: Long before drug addiction became widespread, firearms were not commonly owned and violence was for the most part limited to … Continue reading Out of print: Baltimore crime news of 1940
Days you cannot
There are days when we feel particularly puny. There are days when nature muscles the man or woman out of the picture and pushes us to the high ground, away from the suddenly fierce river with its ocean waves and homicidal roar. Places you waded in summer are four feet under. Heavy rain of two … Continue reading Days you cannot
“You know better, Marco Rubio”
In preparing today’s Substack column on Secretary of State Marco Rubio, I got to thinking about a phrase all of use at one time or another, in one form or another: “You know better. . . . He knows better. . . . She knows better. . . . You should know better.” It might … Continue reading “You know better, Marco Rubio”
Out of print: In 1940, stores had sales, but not on Memorial Day
In this third exploration of my stack of 85-year-old Baltimore newspapers, I’m posting just advertisements from editions of The Sun and Evening Sun. It’s Memorial Day, a solemn national holiday that has been commercialized with retail sales — and lots of advertising — since 1980. Research by Voice of America suggests that Memorial Day sales … Continue reading Out of print: In 1940, stores had sales, but not on Memorial Day
Strange interlude: What I heard on the ride home
I could tell from the way he decorated the inside of his sedan that the Uber driver was a fan of professional basketball. So, as is my habit, I struck up a conversation. I found the driver congenial, talkative and informative. He got me up to date on the National Basketball Association playoffs. He spoke … Continue reading Strange interlude: What I heard on the ride home
River log: Being there when it happens
I was once on a river when a tree fell -- or a large part of a tree, at least. It was one of those quiet spring afternoons on the Big Gunpowder Falls in Baltimore County. I was fishing alone, standing in grass on the bank, tying a new fly to my leader. The only … Continue reading River log: Being there when it happens
Dan Rodricks 