The latest protests in Iran by people angry over the Iranian military’s missile launch that “unintentionally” downed a Ukrainian jetliner killing many Iranians, Canadians and others, is different from past protests over rigged elections, rising gas prices, and what Americans like to call ...

A paradox is a statement that is seemingly self-contradictory or defies expectations. It often describes some confusing phenomenon in reality, or in some cases, simply demonstrates cleverness in story telling. An old familiar one is the water-diamonds paradox: why does water, which is so ...

In November, I was banned in Boston after speech-squelchers on the left and right forced the cancellation of my lecture at Bentley University, a small private institution. The grassroots activists who had invited me were rejected by every major event venue in the nation’s purported Cradle of ...

Too late to learn new things? Never! I love words. I keep a special spiral notebook of words new to me. Once, of course, I’ve looked up their meaning so both can be recorded together. Many words appear once and then disappear. The New Yorker seemed to enjoy making up (well, I couldn’t ...

Dear Kevin: My list of resolutions for 2020 includes completing health care directives. My complicated family situation is an obstacle. I’m the father of three adult children, and each one has a different mother. I was not an attentive father, so there are tensions in every direction. ...

Remember trying to satisfy those sweet tooth cravings as we were growing up? Those of us from my generation were really lucky, because the variety of sweets seemed to be greater, and a lot of them that now would cost anywhere from a quarter to a dollar or more, cost us a penny to a nickel. I ...