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Robert Vargas--Tenacious Lies
NYT reporters call Trump’s election-theft conspiracies what they are—tenacious lies Ben riffs. Robert Vargas separates truth from fiction in the matter of crime. If crime in Chicago has gone down during Mayor Johnson’s tenure, why do so many people think it’s gone up? Ben says it’s cause Chicagoans have been brainwashed. Robert says it’s more nuanced than that. Robert is a sociology professor at the University of Chicago. His views are his own.
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July 19, 2026
Johnny's Couch
The calendar on the wall says it's 2026, and yet I keep thinking I've gone back in time to 1984. That’s cause my beloved Bulls have a rookie who reminds me of--dare I say what I'm about to say? No, I can't. Seems too soon. Scared I'll jinx that ro…
July 15, 2026
Bird Crazy
On the road west, we tangent through the mountains outside Tucson, settling in a lodge that bills itself as a sanctuary for bird watchers. As such, the place's crawling with people, quietly scanning the horizon, binoculars out. It’s my first enco…
June 29, 2026
Slouching Towards Fiction
It only took over 50 years, but I finally got around to reading Slouching Towards Bethlehem--Joan Didion's iconic essay. Not sure why I didn't read it earlier. It's a classic of New Journalism, a style of non-fiction where the writers put themselv…
June 27, 2026
Mark Singer's Warning
In 1996, a magazine writer named Mark Singer got an assignment from his boss that he didn't want to do. Hang around with Donald Trump and write a story about it. I don't blame him for not wanting to hang around with Trump or write about him. Till …
June 17, 2026
April In Spain
Took me awhile to find my way to John Banville, the great Irish novelist. But find him I did, and now I’m hooked. In the last two months, I've read three of his novels and got a fourth on the way, on order from the library. It’s like fried chicken—…
June 8, 2026
This Land Was Made For You And Me
A few days ago, my wife and I took off for California by way of Iowa, Nebraska and Arizona--by car. Yes, a real road trip. And before I left, I reminded myself... Benny, old, boy--it's a big country out there, and you'll be driving through MAGA la…
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