This year, I was privileged to commission and edit some exceptional writers. Here are a few of my favorites from 2025 (posted in chronological order because I love all children equally):

We can tame the misery machines. www.zocalopublicsquare.org/what-happens...

I'm honored that @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social chose my essay on trading doomscrolling for hopescrolling for one of their favorite essays of 2025! www.zocalopublicsquare.org/favorite-ess...

It's me and Norman Rockwell, ya'll: my @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social essay on the American Road Trip was just re-published in the @satevepost.bsky.social. Thanks @erynbrown.bsky.social! www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2025/07/savi...

Since we're talking about "treason" again, re-upping my oldie but goodie on the topic (maybe Tulsi needs to read some Dante) www.zocalopublicsquare.org/treason-isnt...

My debut book, Salt Lakes: An Unnatural History, coming in March from W.W. Norton, has a beautiful cover and is available for pre-order! Check it out at this link: www.amazon.com/Salt-Lakes-U...

Friends! Here's the longer (by about 100 words), slightly better, and paywall-free version of my essay on the American road trip. With thanks to @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social, @erynbrown.bsky.social, & Sarah Rothbard! I love that you can see the motel in question right here.

If you're reflecting on this beautiful & flawed & enormous nation right now--and the road trips that hope to capture it all--check out my latest essay in today's @latimes.com. Thanks to @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social, @erynbrown.bsky.social, & Sarah Rothbard! www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...

Are you doomscrolling right now? www.zocalopublicsquare.org/what-happens...

A column I wrote from Rome in October 2018 frames the quandary of this California moment quite well. www.zocalopublicsquare.org/will-califor...

On Saturday, @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social California columnist Joe Mathews (@democracylocal.bsky.social) went to Compton and Paramount to witness the "rebellion." He didn't find it. www.zocalopublicsquare.org/i-went-to-fi...

Just ate my customary rosemary sea salt bagel from Hank's Bagels in Sherman Oaks. @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social is really enjoying its bagels this week, too...(1/3)

Fun to see this one again

Why, historically, have societies collected taxes? In 2017, @erynbrown.bsky.social asked sociologist Edgar Kiser Kiser, who studies what motivates people to fight wars or cooperate as nations, and other factors that shape society, to explain why taxes came to be, and how they’re likely to evolve.

On the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, I invite you to pause and read, on a related topic, Paul Lerner's probing essay for @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social www.zocalopublicsquare.org/is-he-a-fasc...

Great time at last week's Zócalo event with @carnegieendowment.org and @nhmla.bsky.social...check out the video and recap here: www.zocalopublicsquare.org/how-can-our-...

Today at Zócalo Public Square: Disordered eating behaviors are on the rise for women and girls—and it's a byproduct of the times we're living in, writes psychologist Giulia Suro. www.zocalopublicsquare.org/post-roe-ame...

Gorgeous essay at Zócalo Public Square today, by Paradise, Calif. firefighter and writer Ibe Liebenberg www.zocalopublicsquare.org/azalea-parad...

An important take from @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social friends @oah.org: "Historians often disagree on interpretations...and on which explanations of the past are most compelling…[what we do] not believe is that the primary purpose of history is to instill a single notion of “patriotic education”.