Joshua Smyser-De Leon—Unapologetically Puerto Rican

It was late at night and I was home alone watching a movie, when the text came in. Back to the Future, if you must know--the movie I was watching, that is. Sad to say—it didn’t stand the test of time. Another topic for another day. So, …

This week I took a trip inside my brain—here’s how it went down… Every few months or so, Charles Henderson, peace activist extraordinaire, comes on my podcast to talk about the issues of the day–with me asking the questions…

I was on the phone with this super-smart young journalist. Call her Nell--as that’s her name. And I made a wisecrack that caused Nell to laugh and say, “you’re funny.” To which I reflexively said the first thing that popped…

One day a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon two collections of stories by Alice Munro–Runaway and Dear Life. Found them in a book barn just up the street. Thought–man, what a find! Munro’s one of the great writers of the last 50 years…

There are so many reasons I love One Battle After Another--Paul Thomas Anderson's latest movie--it's hard to mention them all. So I'll keep it to one--the sensei. That would be Sergio St. Carlos, the character played by Benicio del Toro, who's call…

By the time I met Tony Fitzpatrick, he was already a Chicago legend. This was the fall of 2006. By chance, our children attended the same high school. And I saw him at a parent-teacher conference night, sitting in the last row to meet with Ms. Gall…