Selected Work

Bill McKibben: The Making of an Environmentalist

Originally published July 1, 2008 in The Nation

Winter is harsh in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York, but black fly season–a six-week stretch in May and June–is even more pitiless.

Some doctors say it's time to stop treating brain cancer as a death sentence

Originally published June 15, 2008 in The Boston Globe

WHEN THE NEWS came out that Senator Edward Kennedy was suffering from a malignant brain tumor, my family understood all too well how the Kennedys felt. My brother had recently received the same diagnosis. The prognosis is brutal.

Some argue it's time to legally recognize the bond of friendship

Originally published June 8, 2008 in The Boston Globe

IN THE AMERICAN hierarchy of relationships, friendship often seems distinctly second-class. We obsess about the “work-family balance,” but the leisurely conversation with an old friend is a quick casualty when it conflicts with either one.

Originally published November 8, 2007 in The Nation

In the Old Testament, Abraham’s wife, Sarah, foremother of a people, was initially unable to conceive a child. Despite harmonious marital relations, she bled every month and her belly failed to swell.

The Selected Papers of Margaret Sanger, edited by Esther Katz

Originally published July 30, 2007 in The Nation

On January 17, 1916, the eve of her scheduled obscenity trial, Margaret Sanger addressed a gathering of supporters.