Nations, norms, and identities feel permanent from the inside. From a slight distance, most of them turn out to be recent inventions, useful fictions that took hold and started to feel like facts.
These essays pull on that thread: where our stories about who we are actually came from, and what changes when we see them as stories.
Every era has an operating system the people in it can't see. 1987 thought American suburbia was the center of the universe. What does 2025 think? Here's what I learned watching He-Man fight rubber monsters in a New Jersey high school parking lot.
Most famous Italians from history never tasted tomato sauce. That matters more than you think — especially if you've ever felt guilty for changing careers. In this week's newsletter, I unpack why so much of what feels permanent is actually just... inherited.
In today’s workplace, it’s not just whistleblowers who get punished. It's educators, engineers, analysts, creators — anyone bold enough to speak plainly about the world, their work, or themselves. We’re not just afraid to speak negatively about our employers. We’re afraid to speak at all. What is silence is costing us? Here's why reclaiming your voice might be the most important thing you do — for your career, your sanity, and society as a whole.
I thought buying a house was the final stamp of adulthood. In this letter, I share how losing out on a home forced me to rethink success, stability, and what freedom really looks like.