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Dorian Gray, the beautiful young protagonist of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, is granted a terrible gift: eternal youth purchased by transferring all consequences of his indulgence, cruelty, and corruption into a portrait that ages in his place. As he...

In 2018, I  faced more loss than ever before. My paternal grandmother, Walt, passed away at 99. My great-aunt Virginia, with whom I shared a bond as deep as with any grandparent, passed at 100. A month later, her sister—my maternal grandmother Laura—died at 104. My...

Creativity is one of the most powerful forces humans possess. It allows us to imagine alternatives, question the familiar, and redesign the systems that shape our lives. When societies face stagnation—political, social, or educational—our capacity to envision new...

From the time we can read, Americans are told stories about heroes, prophets, and perfection. We grow up with bearded white gods who reward the faithful and Founding Fathers who were elevated to the level of demigods in our foundational mythology. These myths shape...

Joseph Campbell once said that we can understand a society’s priorities by looking at its grandest structures. Once, churches dominated the skylines—palatial sanctuaries that housed the faiths and moral hopes of humanity. Today, glass-and-steel skyscrapers of...

Writing books often draws from experiences, perspectives, inspiration, and purpose. This is a look back at my visit to the Sant’Ambrogio Market in Florence, which offered all of these at once. This wasn’t just a class outing—it became a moment of cultural immersion...

This post is Part 2 of our series on the Pledge of Allegiance. If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, start here: Rethinking the Pledge of Allegiance: Freedom, Faith, and Choice. In this second part, we dive deeper into the promise of “liberty and justice for all,” exploring...

This post is Part 1 of a two-part series exploring the meaning and impact of the Pledge of Allegiance. In this first part, we look at its history, the addition of “under God,” and the question of whether pledging allegiance should be a choice rather than a...

Science fiction has always sparked imagination by stretching the boundaries of reality. Isaac Asimov — one of the most prolific minds in the genre — defined it as literature that “deals with the reaction of human beings to changes in science and technology.” The genre...