Columnists

09/29/2026 · Bloomfield Hills

The Three Words That Give Your Day Back

“Let me check” is not evasive, rude, or a sign that you’re bad at being helpful. It’s a small pause that keeps other people’s urgency from becoming your schedule.

09/27/2026

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Shakespeare’s Secret: How One Poem Turns Summer Into a Promise

Shakespeare begins with a question about summer and ends by claiming that a poem can outlive time itself. The astonishing part is not the boast—it’s how carefully the sonnet earns it.

09/27/2026

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The Trouble With the Future Is That It Hasn’t Happened Yet

Seneca’s ancient advice for modern catastrophizers is less “think positive” than “stop giving your imagination documentary status.”

09/27/2026

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The National Ear: Washington Sells Certainty, America Buys Confusion

The country’s biggest arguments all point to the same problem: leaders keep promising control over systems they cannot steer. Meanwhile, families, courts, and small employers keep paying the bill.

09/27/2026

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The Immersive Van Gogh Industrial Complex Must Be Stopped

I have seen “Starry Night” projected onto a warehouse wall, and I survived. But somewhere between the swelling soundtrack and the $38 tote bag, we stopped looking at art and started being gently processed by it.

09/27/2026

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Lanesboro, Minnesota: The Bike Trail Town That Forgot to Be Boring

Follow the Root River into southeastern Minnesota for limestone bluffs, a walkable main street, and a breakfast plate that justifies the entire drive. Lanesboro is small enough to understand in one afternoon and strange enough to keep you poking around until dinner.

09/30/2026