Did you know that the Sierra Club has a handbook called the “Equity Language Guide?” They are not alone. The American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the American Psychological Association, the AMA, National Recreations and Parks Association, and University of Washington all have similar guides on what to say…

Humans are wanderers by nature. Our innate drive to explore — and conquer — has driven us to invade every corner of our earth, adapt to inhospitable environments, and now that we’ve run out of earth-bound frontiers, dive deep into the sea and reach out to the stars. The success…

As the world revs up to back-to-work and back-to-school, I want to share this delightful — and sage — piece written by E.B White (author of Charlotte’s Web and other books). It was first published in The New Yorker on January 31, 1953. We strolled up to Hunter College the…

It’s August! Let’s be silly! After blogging for over a decade, I am humbled to admit that the most popular post I ever wrote was about squat toilets: Personal Hygeine Tips from the Developing World. Published in 2014 — so long ago the accompanying photos no longer link. Proof positive…

One for the first things an aspiring civil engineer learns how to do when seeking a flat surface upon which to construct a road or a building, is to balance cut and fill. Analyze the topography in three dimensions and determine where to cut down the hills and fill in…

A few weeks ago I watched Six by Sondheim an HBO (kind of) documentary, and (totally) kitsch love poem to the late, great Stephen Sondheim. The accolades to Mr. Sondheim’s talent were eclipsed only by the accolades — from everyone — for Stephen Sondheim the man. This is no case…

Victor Luckerson’s new book, Built from the Fire, a history of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and its reverberations through the last hundred years is unlikely to enjoy wide readership in any Oklahoma Public School. Why? Because Governor Kevin Stitt recently signed Oklahoma House Bill 1775 into law. …

For over three days in June, the world was mesmerized by the loss and implosion of the Titan Submersible launched by the private company OceanGate Expeditions, to explore the remains of the sunken cruise ship, Titanic. Five people died in this private adventure gone wrong. Canada, France, the United States…

Fifty years ago, in 1973, the American Psychiatry Association (APA) made a diagnostic change at their annual conference, declaring that homosexuality is not a psychiatric disorder. Instantly, ten million Americans were cured of the disease our society had inflicted upon them. …