High-school junior Aza Holmes, fan of bad poetry, Dr. Pepper, and her beat-up car Harold, has, like every normal adolescent, some irrational fears. But hers are worse. She has intense germophobia, which keeps her from other normal teenage activities: friendships, adventures, and especially kissing her first boyfriend. Aza’s struggle to escape the “tightening spiral” of...
I miss the old U2, the rock ‘n’ roll U2, chop up the soul U2, set on their goals U2. My thoughts turned to Kanye West’s “I Love Kanye” as Bono switched into autotune halfway through “Love Is All We Have Left,” the opening track on the band’s newest album. But, fortunately, this was one...
In middle school, my friend Danny Cannon told me a story about race. As a 3-year-old, his younger brother had embarrassed his mother in a Safeway. While she was scanning junk food, he was studying the guy bagging the groceries. This man happened to be black. Danny’s brother had never seen a black person before,...
A portrait of former Republican Sen. Arthur Vandenberg hangs in the U.S. Capitol’s Senate reception room — a rare honor bestowed upon only nine senators — in part due to his role in establishing the Marshall Plan, the United Nations, and NATO. Although he was also a writer of newspaper columns, speeches, and books, he...
When I first listened to Taylor Swift’s new album, I didn’t recognize the sound. This was a new Taylor Swift. “Reputation,” Swift’s sixth studio album, is dark, despite its pop genre. Swift is moody, angsty, and sensual from beginning to end in an album that feels like one complete masterpiece. While she sings of her...