A Letter From India, Where the World Is Collapsing

The Official Count of Cases and Deaths Doesn’t Reflect the Full Tragedy Unfolding Here

Every morning, I wake up in my home in a middle-class locality in Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India, and heave a sigh of relief. I do not have temperature; my oximeter readings are normal.

For the last 14 days, my city and state have been under lockdown. My computer has become my window to the world. Every hour or so, I use it to write condolence messages for friends who have lost family members. My wife, a frontline worker, will step out a bit because she works with waste pickers …

It’s Time to Embrace the Vaccine Passport | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

It’s Time to Embrace the Vaccine Passport

There Shouldn’t Be Any Controversy Around This Crucial Public Good

Vaccine passports, and the questions of whether governments or private businesses can or should require people to show them, have recently inspired controversy, and much misinformation, in many countries.

Some …

Where I Go: Stress Baking | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Where I Go: Stress Baking

When It All Becomes Too Much, I Remind Myself to Be Patient and Wait for My Next Loaf to Rise

It’s July 2020, and San Diego is in a heat wave, but I don’t care; I’m baking bread. I can’t force fools on the street to wear masks, or stop the president …

Revisiting California’s Battle of Hastings | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Revisiting California’s Battle of Hastings

The 2005 Sacking of the Netflix CEO as State Education Board Chief Looks Different Now

After long days supervising my children in their struggles with the miseries of distance learning and hybrid school, I try to relax by watching Netflix. As I do, I often …

To Reckon With the Post-Apocalypse, Cities Need to Better Invest in Community | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

To Reckon With the Post-Apocalypse, Cities Need to Better Invest in Community

Urban Areas Need the Buy-in of Locals if They Want to Address Major Problems From Public Health to Climate Change

Most people in the world today live in cities. So it is unsurprising that cities have weathered the extremes of an extreme historical moment: they are where the pandemic first …

A Letter From Paris, Where the New Normal Is Less Grouchy Than You’d Expect | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

A Letter From Paris, Where the New Normal Is Less Grouchy Than You’d Expect

Through Three Lockdowns, Parisians Have Read, Biked, and Even Behaved Like Tourists in Their Own Town

What is the new normal here in Paris? The answer is one that’s less grouchy than you might expect. Mais ça commence à bien faire—it’s getting a little much.

We’re more …