Has It Really Been Thirty Years? The Fall of the Berlin Wall

Thirty years ago, on November 9, the Berlin Wall fell, or more accurately was torn down.* In memory of that event, I offer a [lightly edited] version of a post I ran in 2016. Last week while we all blew noisemakers and wore party hats to celebrate the the 100th anniversary of America’s National Park…

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1958–A Year in Review

I turn 60 this week. Which doesn’t seem possible. I finished my PhD fifteen years ago. I got married nine years ago. I’m just now reaching my stride in a career I love. By any reasonable accounting of a life that would make me about forty. And yet the year is clearly printed on my…

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Déjà Vu All Over Again: Building a Wall

Last week while we all blew noisemakers and wore party hats to celebrate the the 100th anniversary of America’s National Park Service, we let another anniversary slip by with less fanfare. On August 26, 1961, the Berlin Wall became more than just a barbed wire and cinder block barricade. If you want a vivid and…

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