Discomfort: Our biological inclination is to avoid it. But to improve at anything requires action, practice, feedback, mistakes. Lessons from the science of motivation, elite performance, and growth mindset across teaching and coaching.

The Washington Post

In the barren world of men’s grief, support groups like The Sad Dads Club allow fathers to mourn openly. How three fathers who experienced stillbirth created a faithful congregation.

Harvard Public Health Magazine

Reading aloud is as old as the ancients. Why the practice has surprising health benefits for mood and memory - and why doctors are suggesting read-aloud groups (featuring Dickens and Shakespeare) for those with chronic pain in the UK.

The Atlantic

Is cooking a life skill, an art, a social glue, a stress reliever or a quintessentially human act key to our survival? It's all of those things, and in a sea of bad news, here's some good: Gen Z is cooking up a storm.

The Atlantic

Humans have sung since the beginning of time, perhaps even before speaking. Why is it so beneficial – even if you "can't sing" – and why is the English National Opera teaching those with long Covid to sing lullabies?

The Washington Post

Alzheimer's is so new to the public consciousness in Indian Country that for many tribes, there is not a word for dementia. Yet it's everywhere.

The New Republic

Communication skills are increasingly the most essential skills for navigating adult life, professionally and personally. Where are they taught? Theater class is one place where empathy grows.

The Washington Post

Hundreds of thousands of elder care workers are leaving the field, facing poor conditions and hourly pay that's often less than Chic-Fil-A. Who will care for America's elderly? Inside one nursing home's Covid ward – the "Hot Zone" – a profile in self-sacrifice.

Politico Magazine

As fires decline nationally, firefighters are stepping into a role where the real need is: elder care. They are first on the scene at falls, and have become something more: caregivers.

Washington City Paper (Cover Story)

A pandemic personal essay

The Washington Post

Her apartment walls feature photos of her son in "Raging Bull," and alongside Frank Sinatra. For 50 years, she's lived above Logan Circle, a witness to the city from race riots to the election of Obama. As her life narrows by illness and age, what is the source of her infectious joy? Her radiance, humor: How are they fueled when the ingredients that brought joy — work, other people — are gone?

The Washington Post Magazine

An essay on the word "squat," and a first job out of college trying to get runaway teens to write stories. Many lived beneath the sidewalk, in their squat. The writer (me) didn't know squat.

The Threepenny Review