War has a way of sneaking into your wallet. It starts somewhere far away—say, a few drones buzzing over the Persian Gulf—and before long, it shows up somewhere close to home, like the number blinking at the gas pump or the total on your electric bill. That road may...

I spent this past week cleaning a sailboat. Not one that will ever touch water, but one that carries itself like it could. Four feet long. Five feet tall. A tall mast reaching toward the ceiling. White paneled sails. Long overhangs. A hull that looks fast even sitting...

Not “media acquaintances.” Friends. Collegues. People whose voices I recognize in copy, whose bylines I’ve followed for years, whose texts came in late at night after a brutal edit or a long flight back from somewhere dangerous. So let’s dispense with the idea that...

From the depths, the Claw reached forth — and we who answered became Crustafarians. Somewhere on the internet—and of course it’s on the internet—a group of AI agents has founded a religion. Not a metaphor. Not a joke. Not a think-piece headline doing backflips for...

Lyrics by Isaac Cubillos Music by Suno.com Verse 1Streetlight humming in the falling snowMinneapolis holding its breath tonightSomebody’s shoes by the hospital doorCoffee burned, but the clock still ticksThey say it happened quickThey always say it that way...

I didn’t put the story on A-2 of the local paper I worked at by accident. It was a Canadian soldier, killed in Afghanistan. A young man. I put it where readers would see it — because Canadians are our neighbors for half the year. When the snowbirds are in town, they...