Sam Liebeskind

The lack of context isn’t a problem here, because Strayed’s not actually telling the asker whether or not he should have kids. She’s offering the wisdom of her own life. She’s not telling the asker what to do so much as inviting them to ask themselves some questions (instead of her).

I think a lot about the way visibility is mediated by digital communication. On apps, the only way to be seen is to speak. Silence is a meaningful form of communication, but it’s not one that social media apps have any patience for

The death of the obituary matters because local features can be an antidote to the trends of polarization and demonization. Cable news dehumanizes. Community news can rehumanize.

It is precisely because people recognize that they are involved in a repeated game that they become willing to negotiate solutions to their differences. That is why enduring collective forms such as social movements and political parties have persisted despite repeated efforts to replace them with more efficient arrangements. These vehicles of... See more

“Technology” and “hi tech” are not synonymous, and a technology that isn't “hi,” isn’t necessarily '“low” in any meaningful sense.

We have been so desensitized by a hundred and fifty years of ceaselessly expanding technical prowess that we think nothing less complex and showy than a computer or a jet bomber deserves to be called “technology” at all.... See more

Rather than shoving all our debates into a single, hellish town square, let each town have its own, and let us work to make each a place of fruitful exchange.