Columnists
05/19/2026 · Washington County
A Poem for Late Winter: When You Need Light Most
February tests patience. The days stretch longer, but the cold bites harder. This week, let Emily Dickinson remind you that hope arrives without invitation.
The Studio Is the Funniest Show on TV, and Hollywood Deserves Every Joke
Hollywood has spent years making shows about itself, but most of them treat the industry like a sacred temple. “The Studio” finally walks in wearing muddy shoes.
05/19/2026
The Group Chat, the Office Crush, and Other Ways We Make Life Harder
Two readers are tangled in avoidable messes: one keeps auditioning for a friend group that doesn’t seem to want her, and another is dating a co-worker who has become suspiciously allergic to clarity.
05/19/2026
The Immersive Art Bubble Needs to Burst
Projection-mapped paintings, booming music, and a floor that vibrates beneath your sneakers: is this art, or a nightclub for people who own tote bags? I say keep the spectacle—but stop pretending it replaces looking.
05/19/2026
The 30-Minute Episode Is Coming for Prestige TV’s Bloated Soul
Television has spent a decade pretending every episode needs to feel like a small film. I’m betting viewers are ready for stories that end before the popcorn gets stale.
05/19/2026
The Dad Bod Is Not a Moral Failure—But It Is Still Your Responsibility
Three men ask about getting winded with their kids, losing attraction in a long relationship, and the classic “I’ll start Monday” fitness scam. The answers are kinder than shame and less convenient than excuses.
05/19/2026
You Don’t Need a New Life. You Need a Better Tuesday.
Two readers are stuck between “I hate my job” and “I have no idea what comes next.” The answer is less dramatic than quitting, but more useful: stop waiting for certainty and start collecting evidence.
05/19/2026
Your Spare Room Is Not a Lifetime Lease
You said your brother could stay “for a little while.” Six months later, his girlfriend has a key, your grocery bill is doing cardio, and everyone is pretending this is still temporary. It’s time to stop confusing compassion with an open-ended housing policy.
05/19/2026
Your Credit Card Balance Is Not an Investing Strategy
A reader wants to “make the money work harder” while carrying nearly $20,000 in credit card debt. The uncomfortable answer: your best investment may be the least glamorous one on the menu.
05/19/2026
Your Emergency Fund Is Not a Trophy
Saving money is good. Saving money while quietly feeding a credit-card monster is not. Three readers ask what to do when the “right” financial move feels impossible.
05/19/2026
The Birthday Party, the Group Chat, and Other Ways We Make Ourselves Miserable
Two parents bring me the kind of problems that begin with good intentions and end with resentment, sugar crashes, and 47 unread messages. Here’s the truth about birthday parties and family group chats.
05/19/2026
The Dishwasher Is Not a Personality Test
Two readers are asking versions of the same uncomfortable question: Is this relationship hard because life is hard, or because one person has quietly stopped showing up?
05/19/2026
The Tariff Thermometer, the Federal Guillotine, and Other Signs of a Jumpy Country
Washington keeps selling disruption as strategy while households count the cost in grocery aisles and paychecks. Meanwhile, quieter fights over public health and federal data could shape the country long after the cable-news panels move on.
05/19/2026
Start With Doubt, End With Better Answers
Francis Bacon had no patience for opinions dressed up as facts. His advice from 1605 is still a remarkably practical way to think before the internet—and especially after it.
05/19/2026
Shakespeare’s Secret for Making Time Visible
In Sonnet 73, Shakespeare doesn’t merely say “I’m getting older.” He turns aging into bare trees, a dying fire, and the last light of day—and somehow makes that difficult truth feel like a gift.
05/19/2026
The Tiny Focus Trick That Gets You Moving
When a task feels huge, your brain may not need more motivation—it needs a smaller target. Try naming the next physical action, not the entire project.
05/19/2026
Tuesday’s Cosmic Paperwork: Handle With Care
Late-spring skies bring bright ideas, short tempers, and one spectacular warning about saying “sure, I can do that” before checking your calendar. The planets are not against you; they simply enjoy watching you learn boundaries in real time.
05/19/2026
Good News You Can Borrow, Read, Rescue, and Compost
Libraries lend more than books, Dolly Parton puts stories in children’s hands, condors keep returning to the sky, and mushroom roots are replacing plastic foam. The world still has plenty of nonsense, but these four developments know how to do useful work.
05/19/2026
Alligators, Bears, and the Legal Value of a Jet
This week, wildlife entered a patrol car, an alligator entered a restaurant, and a man entered court seeking an airplane that never existed. The paperwork remains undefeated.
05/19/2026
The Sit-to-Stand Squat: Your Most Useful Leg Exercise
You don’t need a barbell, a gym membership, or the flexibility of a circus contortionist. This week, practice the squat you use every time you get out of a chair—and make it stronger on purpose.
05/19/2026
Burney Falls: California’s Waterfall You Don’t Have to Hike For
Take the back road to Burney, California, where a waterfall pours out of a forest wall like somebody left the faucet on. It’s an easy weekend escape with one excellent roadside rule: arrive before your appetite turns into a hostage situation.
05/19/2026
The Cabbage Wedges That Turn Into Candy at the Edges
Give a humble head of cabbage a hot oven, enough oil, and a little patience, and it becomes crisp, sweet, and deeply savory. This is the side dish that makes people ask what you did differently.
05/19/2026
Cut a Clean Half-Lap Joint With Hand Tools
A half-lap joint looks like serious woodworking, but it is really two pieces of wood politely sharing the same space. Make four of them this weekend and you can build a sturdy little wall shelf with no power saw required.
05/19/2026
Stop Asking If “The Pitt” Is the New “ER”
“The Pitt” isn’t the new “ER,” and that’s exactly why it works. This week’s picks are for people who want entertainment with a pulse, a point of view, and fewer billion-dollar explosions.
05/19/2026
Three Times Reality Lost a Bet
An Olympic marathoner borrowed a car, an army went to war with birds, and someone stole enough maple syrup to require inventory control. History has always had side quests.
05/19/2026
Stop Calling Concert Films “Second-Best” — They’re the Better Night Out
The concert film is no longer a consolation prize for people who missed the tour; it is the tour, minus the $19 bottled water and the person filming the entire thing on their phone. Here are five ways to make this week’s big-screen events feel genuinely communal.
05/19/2026
The Internet Is Finally Getting Sick of Looking Perfect
The latest rebellion against algorithmic polish is blurry, awkward, and sometimes missing the subject entirely. Good. We may be rediscovering that a life is not a brand deck.
05/19/2026
Stop Projecting Van Gogh on the Walls and Let Paint Be Weird Again
The immersive Van Gogh show has turned one of art’s most complicated painters into a giant screensaver with excellent marketing. It’s time to rescue him from the laser projector.
05/19/2026
The Country’s Biggest Bill Comes Due
Washington keeps selling short-term fixes for long-term problems, and voters keep paying the invoice. Tariffs, housing costs, immigration fights, and artificial intelligence all point to the same question: who absorbs the damage when leaders chase applause?
05/19/2026
The Radical Skill of Paying Attention
Simone Weil believed attention was more than concentration, politeness, or productivity. She saw it as a moral act—and her advice for practicing it begins with getting something wrong.
05/19/2026