“If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher.”— Abraham Lincoln The absence of truth at the microphone tells us just how far we’ve fallen. And every day, we feel that distance grow—each news cycle thick with chaos, each headline steeped in grievance or fear. We are exhausted—not just politically, but spiritually. For years, we’ve been...

The Great Depression didn’t begin with the crash of ’29. It started earlier—quietly, steadily—beneath the surface of a country convinced the good times would never end. By the start of that year, the warning signs were there. Farmers had been struggling for years, drowning in debt and falling prices. Coal miners were out of work or watching their wages shrink....

Though I was much older than the audience for Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, I did watch his testimony before a congressional subcommittee. I came away inspired by his plainspoken common sense, quiet reason, and the values he passed on—kindness, honesty, respect, and the importance of becoming a person of character. In a time when volume often substitutes for values, Fred Rogers...

With the constant churn of headlines—political strife, cultural division, and an unrelenting news cycle—it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, even numb. So when this week’s TIME magazine arrived, I felt an unexpected sense of peace and gratitude. The cover was simple, yet powerful: a full-page portrait of Pope Leo XIV, dressed in royal vestments, hands folded calmly in front of him....

Week after week, CBS’s 60 Minutes has done what journalism is supposed to do: hold those in power accountable, no matter the cost. The current cost: The Trump administration has responded with threats, lawsuits, and efforts to silence dissent through sheer intimidation. The most recent episode took viewers to Ukraine, where correspondent Scott Pelley interviewed President Zelenskyy at a bombed...

I met President Gerald Ford while working at KMIR-TV in Palm Springs. The event was held at the home of a wealthy supporter in Thunderbird Heights, high above Rancho Mirage. It was one of those orchestrated press gatherings, but Ford made it feel different. As he made his way down a line of reporters—and this lowly cameraman—he didn’t just shake...

(Note: this is a rough draft and still undergoing revisions.) Welcome, esteemed colleagues, to a comprehensive exploration of one of the most perplexing and confounding systems known to mankind: the United States political system. Drawing from years a few a couple of weeks of research, and kind of rigorous analysis (a caffeine binge helped), this thesis aims to explain the...

“[President Trump] then engaged in an unprecedented criminal effort to overturn the legitimate results of the election in order to stay in power.”—Final Report on the Special Counsel Investigation into Efforts to Interfere with The Lawful Transfer of Power Held on January 6, 2020 Despite the release of special counsel Jack Smith’s report, one thing is clear: amid the relentless...

What began as a commentary about team Trump’s missed deadline to submit an ethics code—a legally required document meant to reassure the public about transparent and ethical leadership—has morphed into something much darker. Trump has been transparent, but not about an ethics code, but his frightening, self-serving picks for top cabinet posts. Tulsi Gabbard has been chosen to become Director...

Published in 1937, Walter Lippmann’s An Inquiry into the Principles of the Good Society feels especially relevant today, given the current state of politics. Lippmann was a standard-bearer of the hope for a better American society, and his insights on leadership and the moral compass that should guide public life are spot on. An astute observer of the political landscape,...