The Right to Remember

Rebranding a Borrowed Line

In 1840 a handful of abolitionists meeting in Albany nominated James G. Birney for president under the name Liberty Party. They had no ballot lines, no money and almost no votes, under seven thousand that fall. They built the party […]

Tao of Plato

“Govern a large country,” says the sixtieth verse of the Tao Te Ching, “as you would cook a small fish.” A small fish falls apart if it’s poked and turned too often. One way to read the line is as […]

Valuing the Culture of Death

Few words carry as much weight on their own as death. One syllable, closed off at the end by a breath through the teeth, and a conversation changes temperature. People go a long way to avoid saying it. Someone passed, […]