Reflections on citizenship, democracy, literature, and contemporary American life. Serious book reviews, social satire, and comedy not for everyone.
Ben East’s nonfiction debut recounts how JFK’s bold experiment shaped diplomatic careers and influenced modern American diplomacy.
The figures highlighted here tracked looted antiquities after the invasion of Iraq, re-established diplomacy in Afghanistan after 9/11, and secured village infrastructure while war raged in Vietnam. As hostages in Iran, they maintained diplomatic discipline to bridge a volatile cultural divide. These are individuals of deep courage and conviction, whether integrating a southern U.S. high school or finding comfort in African village beliefs to cope with personal tragedy.
Read, Listen, Watch
-
I’ll try to feel light and springy
-
Patchworks: a government shutdown love triangle.
-
Text and photo.
-
Shouldn’t we rate ourselves on how our daily grind makes this world a better place?
-
the dancers moved us to the center of a great circle, surrounded us singing and shouting and dancing, a lump forming in my throat
-
This Super Bowl, I’m rooting for The Cherry Blossoms.
-
“I love you,” says the princess. “I know,” replies the smuggler.
-
Just that morning, without a visa, I’d talked my way across the border. A little patience, a little humility, small Kwacha, and Dunhill cigarettes solved the visa problem.
-
I would visit corners of this strange land not unlike my hometown: unknown and invisible to the world, no place of pride on any map, unsung in the guide books. Places nobody came from and nobody went to. Corn farms. Tobacco farms.
-
As I think of the potential substitutes, two women who bring Indian, African, and Jamaican descent into the picture, it occurs to me that American presidential campaigns have always been a sort of groundhog day event.
Ben East Books 