Collected essays

I like the essay form of writing. It’s so free, so powerful; so hard to hone, yet so invigorating to read. I wish we had the space to run essays regularly—alas, that would mean cutting something else, and I’m happy with the features we have.

Contributors still send ’em to me, on the off chance a page comes open. I got three in succession that I thought would work well together as a cover story package. So here we are.

Barack Obama’s recent speech on race inspired Jaime O’Neill to dust off a piece written a few years ago but never shared. A stark epiphany prompted Emily Brannen to tell her health-care horror story. And Richard Ek, seeing echoes of nuclear brinksmanship in the Middle East, has interwoven history, hysteria and heroes.

I hope you find these essays as engaging as I have. Let me know if you do.