Yesterday, my 5-year old was literally climbing the wall–with his sneakers on. He has figured out how to wedge himself against the arm of the couch and inch his legs up the wall. When I asked him to stop, he hesitated for a few seconds before climbing down. I explained to him that sneaker marks…Continue Reading…
In case you hadn’t heard, the state of the planet is not good. At a big gathering earlier in the year, an assortment of esteemed, professional worriers reaffirmed this diagnosis and warned: Without urgent action, we could face threats to water, food, biodiversity and other critical resources. I don’t take these concerns lightly. Global changes…Continue Reading…
Last week, my Slate piece on environmentalism was read by many people who care (and write) about green issues. Some (okay, many of them) didn’t particularly like what I wrote. I felt the rumblings on Twitter and elsewhere. And I had planned on responding, but then the horrific tragedy on Friday happened, and I just…Continue Reading…
Like the debate on climate change and other societally important issues caught in the maw of our culture wars, the discourse on guns and violence has had a depressing, unchanging quality. Here’s President Obama two years ago: You see, when a tragedy like this strikes, it is part of our nature to demand explanations –-…Continue Reading…
In a perfect world, people would not let their ideology warp their thinking. In a perfect world, people would not use screechy hyperbole to fulminate against those who don’t share their position on a given issue. In a perfect world, James Delingpole, the flammable blogger for the UK’s Telegraph, would only be permitted to shriek about which…Continue Reading…
At 3pm on Friday and with a heavy heart, I scooped up my youngest from his kindergarten class. An hour later, I was in a packed school auditorium, videotaping his older brother and his fellow 3rd graders as they sang and danced in the school’s holiday show. It was a joyous occasion. But thoughts about…Continue Reading…
Discover magazine readers familiar with my byline know that I tackle science-related issues that are often controversial and that sometimes my take hits a nerve. For example, in recent months I’ve written a few pieces for Slate on genetically modified foods (see here and here) that got a fair amount of play (at least in…Continue Reading…
Life is funny. Thirty years ago, when I was a college freshman, I was most passionate about partying, skateboarding and writing for my school newspaper. This is when I fell in love with journalism. I wrote articles about the nuclear freeze movement in Europe, why I was an atheist, and about student government shenanigans. The…Continue Reading…
Which is better for the environment: Grass-fed or corn-fed cows? The question is not as simple as you might think. Eco-minded meat eaters tend to assume that free-ranging cattle nibbling on grassy pastures is superior to herded cows fattened on corn in concentrated animal feeding lot operations (CAFO’s). Slate explored this assumption in 2010. (There is also a similar…Continue Reading…
This is a fun and exciting announcement to make. It’s been nearly four years since I launched Collide-a-Scape midway through my fellowship at the University of Colorado’s Center for Environmental Journalism (CEJ). Initially, I had thought I’d blog on the intersecting cultural/environmental issues specific to the Southwest. Of course, since it was my blog, I had license…Continue Reading…