When she enrolled at the Academy, she had a limited idea of the Coast Guard’s mission: “They save people and clean off oily ducks.” Since then, she has served from Juneau to Miami and deepened her understanding. She is now Rear Admiral Bert. You live, you learn. Continue reading »

He served in the special forces in Iraq, as a defense policy advisor to NATO, and now teaches international relations at West Point, where a woman colleague gently explained male privilege. He got it: “I had this advantage, in that I’m kind of a fat-headed, broad-shouldered man with badges and gadgets.” Continue reading »

 Is meditation fundamentally conservative, a spiritual tranquilizer that helps us accept what we’d do better to oppose? Meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg demurs. Used properly, these techniques can help us gain the clarity and calm to take action. Plus a paean to the Statue of Liberty as a quasi-Hindu deity and anti-Trump emblem. And music from Max … Continue reading »

  In 1985, he became the youngest world chess champion in history at the age of 5. OK, he was 22, and it was an extraordinary achievement. He subsequently emerged as a vigorous anti-Putin activist and now heads the New York-based Human Rights Foundation. A conversation on computers, chess, secret codes, and Russian foreign policy. Plus … Continue reading »