I am an atheist, but have never wavered in my conviction that persons with religious beliefs are entitled to the same freedom of choice as me. And in my vocation as a reporter, the person who has most influenced me was the late Frances Sweeney, a deeply religious Catholic editor of a penetratingly independent Boston […]

Legendary New York Yankee manager Casey Stengal was known for citing obscure baseball statistics for sportswriters. When the reporters would challenge him, Stengal had an easy answer: “You can look it up.” Baseball, America’s pastime, thrives on statistics, even more so now that modern analytics have provided new perspectives that deepen fans’ appreciation of the […]

The case of Kim Davis – the Kentucky county clerk jailed for refusing to issue gay marriage licenses – has highlighted a deep cultural gap in the Republican Party. And no one has exploited that gap more than Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor running for president. Huckabee, author of the flyoverpopulist manifesto “God, Guns, […]

Sue is canning tomatoes this week. Last week it was pickles and beets. Soon it will be applesauce. You can’t move in the kitchen for the kettles and the jars. That was my first question: Why do you call it “canning” when you’re putting the stuff in glass jars? Shouldn’t it be “jarring”? “Get out!” […]