A different kind of urban garden may be the key to feeding ourselves locally — Let’s talk about mushrooms. I’ve been comparing their underground stealthiness to Russian democracy, describing how they grow out of sight, keeping their peace until the right moment. I’ve pointed out that you never do know when they’re going to burst into the light and turn the world upside down. But…

Meta’s stock collapse revealed what I already knew — I quit Facebook, Instagram and every other property owned by what is now called Meta nearly two years ago. It was at the time a rash decision and at first many of my friends and family wondered where I had “gone.” Soon, though, the people who mattered “found” me. It…

My search for an acre of escape — It was the rock that caught my eye. Dappled with lichen and lighted by the afternoon sun, it appeared to be the perfect place for contemplation. …

This is the year to de-center your smartphone — For the sake of yourself and your country, it is time to get off your phone. Yes, I know you needed to see the latest inquiries into January 6th, the most recent QAnon theories, the debunking of those theories and then the debunking of the debunking. Then perhaps you’ll want…

There’s more to Loch Ness’s ecology than an imaginary plesiosaur — Are there really monsters in Loch Ness? It depends on whether you’re a human or a char. The recent “discovery” that plesiosaurs, swimming dinosaurs from the Cretaceous period, may have inhabited freshwater lakes is so obviously pseudo science clickbait on par with that old Gen X TV favorite “In Search…

Part Ten of an Occasional Speculation — Washington departed Washington for New York on the Amtrak regional with no small amount of trepidation. The City had been the site of his most humiliating defeat back in ’76. That it had been chosen to house the Democratic National Convention in 2028 struck him as ominous. At the first…

Part Nine of an Occasional Speculation — It was already May by the time Tonnelly revealed to Washington his strategy for the coming election. Washington broadly agreed to the plan. But he found much to fault in the present electoral system. First among Washington’s objections was a firm belief that the enfranchisement granted to the general public…

Part eight of an occasional speculation — When his strength had begun to return, Washington was moved to Washington. He was given a suite of rooms at the Hay-Adams Hotel, a track suit, and a set of elastic bands of different colors. A slender, energetic woman called Elise had been instructed to run her patient through the…

Bestselling author Carl Safina goes fishing for a better lobster trap — Carl Safina is the bestselling author of 10 books and a world leader in ocean conservation. He contributed this guest post. During the early days of whale hunting by sailing ship, one whale species was the “right one” to go after. They were particularly slow, and they floated when killed…