JOURNALISM
Selected writings from New York magazine and
The New York Times
January 28, 2013
Why You Truly Never Leave High School
New science on its corrosive, traumatizing effects.
February 14, 2011
The Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Wellbutrin, Celexa, Effexor, Valium, Klonopin, Ativan, Restoril, Xanax, Adderall, Ritalin, Haldol, Risperdal, Seroquel, Ambien, Lunesta, Elavil, Trazodone War
As it approaches its tenth year, our nation’s longest war is showing signs of waning. Meanwhile, our soldiers are falling apart.
February 8, 2010
The Junior Meritocracy
Should a child’s fate be sealed by an exam he takes at the age of 4? Why kindergarten-admission tests are worthless, at best.
May 18, 2009
Recession Culture
No money changes everything, from murder rates to museum attendance, from career choices to what you eat for dinner. And not all of it for the worse.
December 1, 2008
Alone Together
Manhattan is the capital of people living by themselves. But are New Yorkers lonelier? Far from it, say a new breed of loneliness researchers, who argue that urban alienation is largely a myth.
December 4, 2006
Can’t Get No Satisfaction
In a culture where work can be a religion, burnout is its crisis of faith.
July 17, 2006
Some Dark Thoughts on Happiness
More and more psychologists and researchers believe they know what makes people happy. But the question is, does a New Yorker want to be happy?
May 16, 2005
My Life as a Thin Person
People like Lisa Marie Sohr, who lose 100 pounds or more with stomach surgery, find that with their new bodies often come new friends, new spouses, new lives. But happiness is not a foregone conclusion:
August 20, 2001
Sorry, Your Time Is Not Up
To many New Yorkers, August poses a potent question: What would life be like without therapy? Analysts have no shortage of answers to this question -- and it could take you a year's worth of 50-minute hours to explore them all. The story of one woman's struggle with – as the shrinks say – termination.
October 14, 2013
In Conversation: Antonin Scalia:
On the eve of a new Supreme Court session, the firebrand justice discusses gay rights and media echo chambers, Seinfeld and the Devil, and how much he cares about his intellectual legacy (“I don’t”).
November 8, 2010
The Benjamin Button Election
Rage, powerlessness, magical thinking—why is how we think about politics increasingly mirroring the mind-set of a small child?
April 12, 2010
Mr. Woebegone Goes to Washington
When did the Senate become such a lonely, cynical place?
August 10, 2009
June 11, 2007
The Politics of Personality Destruction
Through mind-numbing repetition and bizarre campaign-trail torture, our candidates can seem reduced to pale copies of themselves. But here’s the scariest part: The process works.
The Message Is the Message
Barack Obama’s ubiquitous appearances as professor-in-chief, preacher-in-chief, father-in-chief, may turn out to be the most salient feature of his presidency.
October 2, 2006
Dreaming of Obama
The junior senator from Illinois might take the country to a place it’s never been, past the baby boom, beyond race. To many Democrats, and even a lot of Republicans, the prospect is thrilling—but is it for real?
August 22, 2005
Bill Clinton's Plan for World Domination
Clear your schedule for his third inauguration, here in New York in September.
August 23, 1999
La Dolce Alfonse!
Wait a minute! Al D'Amato lost the election, but now he's got more money, more babes, and more clout than ever? Life really is unfair.
July 15, 2007
Good Hillary, Bad Hillary
Reviews of A Woman in Charge, by Carl Bernstein, and Her Way, by Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta Jr.
November 20, 2005
Normal Life With More Pancakes
Review of The Woman at the Washington Zoo, by Marjorie Williams