Citizenship | Literature
Select novels, short stories, and nonfiction on contemporary life.
What began as a bold experiment in grassroots service produced future ambassadors to help guide U.S. diplomacy through seven decades of global upheaval.
Read, Listen, Watch
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This month we march. This month, we show our strength by taking to the streets. This month we demand action—not thoughts, not prayers, not false heroes—we demand action to prevent another mass murder by gunfire. You will know the brave ones as we march unarmed. And you will know the cowards by their callous, pandering,…
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This morning I wrote my representatives in Congress*, remembering the words of a strident conservative who came to my book talk looking to bristle with me over guns. ‘Call them by their first name,’ he said. ‘Reminds ’em who they work for.’ He told me at the outset, ‘I’m a shade right of Scalia,’ and noted…
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I always consider it my strange good fortune to have a past life that includes making music in Joe Frawley’s basement. New Joe Frawley music: https://t.co/CMZ0y4XmNr — Joe Frawley Music (@joefrawley) February 23, 2018 Yes, in high school I’d haul my black Pearl drum kit to his house and set it up with Dan Cote…
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Why We Write We write not to be read. We write not because we have something to say, but because something must be said and needs our attention. We write to put down the tracks of our thought and, through this process, clarify our intent, to give form and understanding to our own inscrutable intuition.…
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Call them what you will—trolls, comment monkeys, sock-puppets—no-one should doubt that the hundreds of employees of the ‘Internet Research Agency’ had a sense of humor. From the Mueller indictment: On or about May 29, 2016, Defendants and their co-conspirators, through an ORGANIZATION-controlled social media account, arranged for a real U.S. person to stand in front of…
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Last month we were treated to countless rounds of being talked down to by law enforcement from Broward County, Florida after yet another completely avoidable massacre at the hands of an American citizen exercising his right to bear an AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle. ‘If you see something, say something,’ Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said…
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And tomorrow. And tomorrow. And tomorrow…
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I have a naughty streak on Valentines. My favorite transgression, 15 years ago, duped my old lady into having dinner with me. That was just before she became my old lady. Valentines fell on Friday that year. I was pretty eager to reserve her company, but didn’t want to wreck a good friendship over something…
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How will the denizens of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. mark Cupid’s feast tomorrow? If recent reporting is any indication, their ideas on romance suggest there’ll be no bon-bons and necklaces going around. Chokers, perhaps. Or these gift ideas: For all the president’s men, including the partisan patsies in Congress, the gift will be the sleeveless white…
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The man with the 70’s hangover—big stache, wide lapels, swooping toupee—assigned to teach my fifth grade class regularly heaped this wish upon us: ‘May the bird of paradise rest in your armpit.’ What this meant, and why it should happen to us, was never made clear. It was only, mysteriously, repeated. This was a 1982-83,…
Ben East Books 