I understand why many people would rather avoid politics right now. The arguments are exhausting, the labels feel limiting, and it can seem easier to step away from the noise. I have felt that temptation myself. But politics is about far more than campaigns, personalities, or political parties. It shapes the government that writes our laws, protects our rights, funds our schools, determines our healthcare, and influences nearly every aspect of public life. Choosing not to eng

This week I listened to an outstanding interview on NPR's Fresh Air, where Terri Gross spoke with journalist Helen Lewis about the rise of what Lewis calls "masculinism." The conversation was based on Lewis's Atlantic article, The Men Who Want Women To Be Quiet, and explored a movement that argues men should once again occupy a dominant position in society. As always, Gross conducted a thoughtful and probing interview. She would be my dream interviewer. But the subject itself

"He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how." - Friedrich Nietzsche Suffering is an unavoidable part of the human experience. In Buddhism, this truth is expressed in the first of the Four Noble Truths: life includes suffering. Recognizing this reality does not remove pain, but it can help us face life with greater honesty, acceptance, and resilience. Life often tests us through uncertainty, hardship, and questions that have no easy answers. Yet these challenges beco

I am not suggesting Barack Obama was perfect or that he alone could heal what divides us today. Rather, he represents, at least to me, a style of leadership that appealed to our better angels instead of our worst instincts. I miss that aspiration. More than anything, I miss believing that politics could still be a force capable of bringing Americans together rather than driving them further apart. We need leaders with vision, empathy, integrity, and the courage to place count

“If civilization is to survive, we must cultivate the science of human relationships— the ability of all peoples, of all kinds, to live together, in the same world at peace.”— Franklin D. Roosevelt Racism. Misogyny. Xenophobia. Homophobia. Transphobia. Ageism. Ableism. Religious intolerance. The list of our prejudices - and the things we fear - seems almost endless. How can we hope to live together in the United States - or anywhere in the world - if we cannot first accept on

I have been thinking a lot lately about how fragile life really is. How everything can change in an instant. Every day we read about accidents that take the lives of the young and the old. Sometimes they are tragedies we almost expect—illnesses, natural disasters, acts of war. Other times they are so random they seem impossible to comprehend, like the woman in New York City who died after falling into an open manhole while stepping from her car. Thousands of innocent people,

The larger and more complex organizations become, the easier it is for communication gaps to create operational problems. In technology-driven environments, teams often assume the challenge is purely technical. In my experience, it rarely is. Most operational failures begin long before systems go down. They begin when priorities become unclear, stakeholders stop sharing information effectively, or technical and nontechnical teams begin speaking entirely different languages. T