Columnists
10/18/2026 · Rocky Mount
The Two-Second Pause That Protects Your Time
You don’t need a perfectly worded boundary or a dramatic exit. Sometimes, you just need two seconds before answering.
Shakespeare’s Secret for Writing About Time Without Saying “Time”
In Sonnet 73, Shakespeare doesn’t lecture us about aging—he gives us a fading year, a dying day, and a fire burning down to embers. The result is a small masterclass in making an invisible feeling impossible to ignore.
10/17/2026
The Baldwin Test: Face It Before You Fix It
James Baldwin’s sharpest practical insight is not about courage in the abstract. It’s about the awkward first step that makes every real change possible: seeing the thing clearly enough to stop arguing with its existence.
10/17/2026
The Tariff Circus Meets the Grocery Aisle
Washington keeps selling tariffs as a negotiating trick, while households see them as another bill. Congress also faces a funding fight, the Federal Reserve watches stubborn prices, and one quiet court battle could reshape federal power.
10/17/2026
The QR Code Has Ruined the Museum Label
I came to look at the painting, not to perform a small, humiliating ritual with my phone. Museums: please put the words on the wall again.
10/17/2026
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