Don’t Trust — Just Verify

Those AI-powered search engines can lead you down the garden path.

Pain Is Not the Opposite of Pleasure

A close reading of Garth Greenwell’s Small Rain.

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

…To write to your favorite author!

A Friendship Like No Other

Recalling Tom Stoppard’s longtime bond with composer André Previn.

Our River Runs Through It

How the Potomac helps tell the story of DC.

I’m Your Biggest Fan(bot)

This over-the-top praise for my books feels suspiciously nonhuman.

Readers as Radicals

Studying the humanities is an act of rebellion in the age of AI.

When the Personal and the Political Intersect

A reflection on writing in DC