Lessons from Los Angeles
AP Photo/Ethan Swope We’re back, baby! Over the brief winter interlude the newsletter hit a milestone, our second anniversary of cultural takes and...
Fighting the Right Fights: More on School Choice
Good Saturday morning, Winter Break is here in the Gulf and adventures await! Hope and I are kicking things off first thing Sunday morning with a flight to...
To the Victors Go the Spoils, Part III: School Vouchers
Secretary of Education Nominee Linda McMahon My, oh my, do we live in interesting times. As I sit down to write this week’s newsletter, Arabic-language news...
To the Victors, Go the Spoils: Part II
Welcome to our new subscribers, especially those (presumably) joining us via Bluesky! I’m thrilled to have you aboard. A big thank you as well to our...
To the Victors, Go the Spoils: Part I
I didn’t write last week. It wasn’t because I didn’t have anything to say, but that I don’t think anyone wanted to hear where my head was. Midday Sunday Hope...
We Need to Be Pragmatic
General Francisco Franco and Benito Mussolini are two historical figures on my mind this week Boy, has this been a week! Don't worry. This is not a...
A Foul Wind
Numbers have always had this weird grip on me—they just stick. I think it traces back to my days playing fantasy baseball in the '90s. By now, “Nate’s into...
Readers Have Their Say
Happy Sunday, This week's newsletter is largely going to be a reader mailbag of responses to the piece last week. In that edition, I wrote about feeling out...
Feeling Out Of Step
Hey folks, this week was Fall Break here in the Gulf. Hope and I spent a long weekend in Yerevan, Armenia. If that sounds familiar it’s because we did the...
Foreign Policy, Fighting Bad Guys, and Stories from Lebanon
Hope and I cast our ballots electronically on September 26th, so, mercifully for us, the election is over. I know it’s not actually over, but it is for me....
Rebel Ridge: Civil Asset Forfeiture and Policing for Profit
Happy Wednesday, This week’s newsletter is arriving later than usual because Hope and I returned late Sunday from a weekend trip to Doha. Because we moved to...
Getting Back at Scammers & News of the Moment
There are at least half a dozen topics that I considered writing about at various points this week. I often joke that we live in absurd times, but it feels...
Are We Allergic to Data?
Pardon me in advance for the brevity of today's newsletter. I opened last week by wishing my mother a happy 84th. On the eighteenth, I'll be celebrating my...
Changing Your Mind is a Virtue
First off, happy 84th birthday mom. I hope your tea celebration is a success today and you feel loved and celebrated. Thanks for being the best parent...
November Can’t Come Soon Enough
After weeks of being pestered by her rivals, Vice President Harris finally sat down with the press for her first interview as the Democratic front-runner....
Starting Well
School in the Gulf gets underway earlier than it does back home. Schools on the West Coast (and New York) seem to have the latest start times in the US, so...
Teaching is Easier and Harder than Ever
Let’s talk a bit about back to school. I remember telling someone during my first week of grad school, “I’m going to try this teaching thing for a minute,...
Protect Ya Neck
After spending nights in roughly ten different beds this summer, I finally bring you greetings from Abu Dhabi once again. We’re gonna open with two quick...
We're Back, Baby
I almost broke down and became a bucket hat guy today. Almost. I bring you greetings from Larnaca, the sun drenched coastal capital of Cyprus. We are closing...
A History of Violence
The recent assassination attempt on Donald Trump is dominating headlines, raising questions about the potential for further political violence. There are...