My favorite interviewer of writers is, perhaps unsurprisingly, a writer herself: Michelle Huneven. She's written for countless different outlets, but these days is interviewing for the literary site The Millions. This week she published an interview with a young novelist who wrote a book called The Gin Closet. Here's Michelle's introduction to the book andContinue reading “How can someone so young write such a good dark novel?”
Author Archives: Kit Stolz
McKibben/Toles: Ignore the climate/disaster connection!
It's long been my contention that environmental writers, artists, and speakers have to access the full range of human emotion to make the case for the urgency of action needed to preserve our existing climate — even bitterness, if necessary. Science and earnest appeals to reason simply aren't enough. So it's good, in a rhetoricalContinue reading “McKibben/Toles: Ignore the climate/disaster connection!”
Making a city resilient: plant more heat-resistant trees
That's what Chicago is doing, among other forward-thinking ideas: Awareness of climate change has filled Chicago city planners with deep concern for the trees. Not only are they beautiful, said Ms. Malec-McKenna, herself trained as a horticulturalist, but their shade also provides immediate relief to urban heat islands. Trees improve air quality by absorbing carbonContinue reading “Making a city resilient: plant more heat-resistant trees”
What’s not to “like” about widgets (from the WSJ)
Or at least, what's not to trust. It's why I don't link this site to fb, though it hurts my popularity: The charticle is easier to understand than the article, but they're both worth a minute or two.
The “peculiar, newsworthy,” Republican style of illicit sex
The New York Times has many famous columnists, and one funny one: Gail Collins. Which brings us to sex. What is it with Republicans lately? Is there something about being a leader of the family-values party that makes you want to go out and commit adultery? They certainly don’t have a lock on the infidelityContinue reading “The “peculiar, newsworthy,” Republican style of illicit sex”
USA Today: Climate change deniers just like birthers
When the New York Times writes an opinion piece on climate change and the challenge it poses our political and economic system, as Andrew Revkin and other thinkers at that paper do on a routine basis, the world yawns. When the editorial board at the Washington Post declares that every candidate for political office shouldContinue reading “USA Today: Climate change deniers just like birthers”
The Seven Steps of Global Warming (a primer for deniers, by Toles)
According to Wunderblog's Jeff Masters. this month we've seen $2 billion damage on the Mississippi, a diastrous 300-year flood in Alberta, and flooding in Colombia the likes of which has never been seen. He quotes Colombia's president, Juan Manuel Santos, who after 500+ deaths, said, "the tragedy the country is going through has no precedents in ourContinue reading “The Seven Steps of Global Warming (a primer for deniers, by Toles)”
Journalism today: Don’t wait your turn (Robert Krulwich)
In which Robert Krulwich, of the excellent Radiolab, gives a speech to the newly-minted graduates of UC Berkeley's journalism school, and inspires even old guys like me. Here's the conclusion: So for this age, for your time, I want you to just think about this: Think about NOT waiting your turn. Instead, think about gettingContinue reading “Journalism today: Don’t wait your turn (Robert Krulwich)”
The refrains of nature: Rachel Carson
If we think of Rachel Carson, we probably remember her for alerting us to the massacre of the birds by DDT in Silent Spring, and overlook her earlier, more poetic works, such as her bestseller The Sea Around Us, which was excerpted in The New Yorker, won the National Book Award, and numerous other prizes. YetContinue reading “The refrains of nature: Rachel Carson”
The paradox of being hard yet soft: Tennessee Williams
In l942, Tennessee Williams, living in Greenwich Village, down to his last ten dollars, at work on a fragment of a play called The Paper Lantern, about a woman named Blanche, living on a plantation called Belle Reve…began to recover the vision he long had lost in his left eye. In his diary, on theContinue reading “The paradox of being hard yet soft: Tennessee Williams”
Kit Stolz 