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Narrative Nonfiction and Reportage

An Invisible Wake in Caustic Frolic
Leaving Cambridge for the Comfort of Strangers in The Boston Globe
Try Harder in BioStories
Invasions in Midnight Oil
My Last Brisket in Pangyrus
More Love in Green Briar Review
Another Act in The Wax Paper
Detectives in Pangyrus
Signs in The Journal of War, Literature, and the Arts
Working Average in The Diverse Arts Project
Our Wed and Unwed Mothers in Summerset Review
Aliens in Shenandoah
Esther Bubley’s Interiors in The Yalobusha Review
Private Moments, Public Relations in Tampa Review
The Writing Life: A Profile of Leah Hager Cohen in Holy Cross Magazine
Mindfulness and Memoir in The Writer’s Chronicle
The Overachiever in Yuan Yeng
W Dallas in Schuykill Journal of the Arts
Synchro Moms in Ninth Letter
Nixon’s Farewell in Eleven Eleven
Inventorying Phoebe in Ellipsis
Power Lines in Crack the Spine
Prague Afternoon in The South Carolina Review (starts on Page 81)
An Accounting in The Rambler
The Trail in The Dos Passos Review
Right Brain Wrong Mind in The Louisville Review
Table Manners in The Almanac for Farmers and City Folk

Cognoscenti Blog Posts

George Santos Covered “Hallelujah:” I Listened so You Don’t Have To
Not Spot, Not Fido: She’s Billie, and That’s Enough
Nancy Pelosi’s Long Road
The World is Burning
A Letter from Edinburgh
Joni Mitchell’s Not Done Yet
The Trees were Here First
I’ve Been Trying to Explain America to Afghan Refugees. It’s Not Going Well.
What Florida Won’t Teach its Kids
Why a Return to “Normal” is the Last Thing We Need
The Art (and Artlessness) of Self-Promotion
The Ruthlessness of Joan Didion
The Danger of “Safe Spaces”
Facebook has only Itself to Blame
The Phantom Hum: Tinnitus as a Metaphorbr />
Hey Google, Who Was I Before I Met You?
These Young People Wrote More than College Essays
Why “A Case of You” is the Best Love Song of All Time
The America we Choose
In 2020, is Fairness Dead?
Why we Should Care about QAnon
How to Cope when we’re Locked in the Perpetual Present
Self-Care Isn’t a Privilege. It’s an Act of Self-Preservation
Coping with the Pandemic and Finding Purpose, in my Kitchen
Thank You is Not Enough: Taking Care of the People we Need Most and Pay the Least
The Virus Has No Political Preference
Elizabeth Warren’s Anger is Risky. It’s Also Necessary.
The Danger of “Bernie or Bust”
Trump’s Peace Plan is a Win-Win … for Himself and Netanyahu
Harry and Meghan Want to Go Their Own Way
There’s No Such Thing as Ideological Purity
The Gift of Showing Up
It’ll Take More than Evidence to Convict Donald Trump
Nancy Pelosi’s Long Game
Republicans Don’t Have to be Trump Sycophants
The Business Roundtable has a Change of Heart? I Think Not.
Democrats Shouldn’t be Afraid of Socialism
The Fleeting Hope and Wonder of Men on the Moon
The Case for Reparations
The Manipulated Pelosi Video: Why We Embrace Fiction over Fact
The Toxic Myths of White Supremacy
In Praise of Old Friendships
The Title X Gag Rule Plays Politics with Women’s Health
The Art of Asking Questions
What Good is Republicans’ Rebuke of Steve King if they Remain Silent on Trump?
The Christmas Tree I Never Had
Don’t Investigate — Legislate
What Motivates Arctic Explorers?
Remember Life Before Social Media?
Anger can Take Us only So Far
Playing Hardball isn’t Just for Republicans Anymore
It Happens to All of Us Eventually
Spirit in the Dark: Everyone has an Aretha Story. This is Mine.
I Keep Trying to Understand Trump Voters, but I Keep Failing
What’s “Offensive” Art? The Answer isn’t Black and White
Relief is the One Stage of Grief No One Talks About
Why Companies Shouldn’t Fear Customers Reclaiming their own Data
Anthony Bourdain Taught Us Food is Much More than What’s on the Plate
The NRA Doesn’t Get to Play the Victim
When the Infirmities of Age Render Us Exiles
Why “Wild Wild Country” Resonates Today
What is a Dignified Death?
Is Principle or Profit Driving the Companies Changing their Gun and NRA Policies?
Resistance, Privilege, Consent, Victimization
Blackbird Endures as a Meditation on the Struggle for Civil and Human Rights
Protecting our Minds from Digital Distractions
Will the Lure of Convenience Give Way to the Surveillance State?
Using Truth to Tell Vicious Lies
Why Fear — At a Distance — Helps us Feel Safe
#MeToo Flared but won’t Endure
It’s Time to Politicize Las Vegas
Lessons for an Anxious Time
No, I Don’t Watch “Game of Thrones”
The Pain of a Large Woman in a Small-Minded World
50 Years On, Remembering the “Our World” Broadcast
When Words Mean Nothing: Trump’s Comey Tweets and a Presidency in Crisis
The Way Forward: Trying to See the Human Face Behind the Terror
Bots and the Right Wing Hijacking of Social Media
Transforming a Home — and the Nature of a Mother/Daughter Relationship
Not your Mother’s Feminism: Teen Vogue and the Next Wave of Activism
A Trip to the Nail Salon: A Lesson on America
Hats Off: Remembering Mary Tyler Moore
Before the Women’s March: The Privilege of Debating Privilege
Stop Making Sense: Why Self-Deception (and Donald Trump) Aren’t Going Away Anytime Soon
Reality Bites Back: Fake News, Fallacious Tweets, and the Assault on Facts
We Want the World and We Want It Now
Down Syndrome’s Tiniest Ambassador
Write What you Know?
Who will Care for the Caregivers
Treacherous Beauty
How we Regard Huma Abedin and Why it Matters
Mother or Muslim, Black or White
Pragmatism Doesn’t Mean Surrender
The Real Reason White Evangelical Voters Support Donald Trump
New Lessons from Walden Pond
Sleeping in Strangers’ Beds
In a Dogma Eat Dogma World, a Defense of Political Correctness
Why the Facebook Trending Topics Controversy Matters
Making a Fashion Misstatement
Luck and the “Self-Made” Man
The Vast and Glittering World Inside Him
Blinded by the Shiny New Thing
The Quiet Joy of Unimportance
Trump, AIPAC, and the Search for Moral Clarity
Wow! Love Facebook Reactions? Or Sad Them?
Pure Wind: Using “1984” to Understand Election 2016
Saying Someone Else’s Prayers: Religiosity in 2016 and Beyond
Blizzard PTSD
Turn and Face the Strange
It Can Happen Here: Why the Reissue of Mein Kampf Couldn’t Happen at a Better Time
The Era of the ‘Mecosystem’ is Upon Us
Beyond Routine Lies: When the Leaders of the Pack are the Most Dishonest
Using Virtual Reality to Shine a Light on Real World Problems
Welcome Distractions: The Triumph of Normal Life
Hiding in the Crowd: The Myth of Ted Cruz’s Citizen-Funded Campaign
Attention Must Be Paid: How Death of a Salesman Changed a Life
In Third GOP Presidential Debate, a Perplexing Anti-Government Theme
Meryl Streep’s Teeshirt is Not the Issue
Make it Work: Why Political Contests should Emulate Project Runway
Dear Ignorant People
Images of Death Can’t Teach us How to Live
In the Attacks on Planned Parenthood, it’s Vulnerable Women who Suffer
Witness to ‘A Terrifying Century:’ E.L. Doctorow Tribute
The Curious Case of the Missing “I”
Women’s World Cup Soccer and Why I Had to Watch
Mixed Feelings about the Mining — and Manipulating — of Emotions
What do we Relinquish When we Say “I Forgive You”?
Does Caring for the Elderly Require us to Segregate Them?
Periscope Review
Too Wrinkly to Rock?
Charlie Hebdo, Free Speech, and the Freedom to Disagree
Humiliation in the 21st Century: Should we be Ashamed of Public Shaming?
Amazon Dash Brings us One Step Closer to Never Leaving Home Again
Monica Lewinsky’s Second Act
Reclaiming a Heritage of Debate
To my Selfie-Obsessed Fellow Travelers
Guilt Trip: What Happens when Unearned Shame Meets Undeserved Suffering
It’s Cool-Hunting Season
Nounification and Other Assaults on the English Language
Digital Natives: Plugged in, but Connected?
What’s wrong with Emotional Contagion, Anyhow?
Six Reasons Why Listicles Must Die!
What does it Mean when we Need an App to Write our Facebook Updates?
Talking About Race without Speaking in Code
Why Marathon is a Terrible Metaphor for Life
Why Jokes Matter
PhotoShocked
It’s Hard to ‘Lean In’ When you’re Working for Minimum Wage
Regulars: The Casual Encounters that Shape our Days
What We’re Like When We Like Something We Don’t Really Like at All
Losing Touch with the Old Ways of Finding our Way
Measurable Me