On July 3, 2026, Michelle Cottle wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times entitled “This pathetic groveling is no way to rebuild a party.” She was referring to messages sent out to potential donors to Democratic candidates running for governmental offices. I am on many of the lists of such potential donors. I’ve noticed that being on one list leads to my appearing on many other lists to receive messages, mostly appeals for donations. I get dozens, if not hundreds, of fund

When I was in training as a psychoanalyst it was generally understood that the ideal analytic stance was for the analyst to be reserved, neutral, avoidant of personally influencing the patient. This stance derived from a scientific ideal of objectivity. The scientist/analyst was to be an observer, not a participant in the object of observation. On another point, Freudian theory illuminated psychic dynamics on some phenomena while obscuring others. Freud posited a dual-instin

These are days of pandemic and prejudice. Our children are disoriented and struggling because we adults are disoriented and struggling....

Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them—James Baldwin There has...

Bob Dylan is reported to have said: “Life isn’t about finding yourself, or finding anything. Life is about creating yourself, or...

This article was first published in December, 2015 on Public Seminar. Pope Francis’s recent encyclical, Laudato si’: On Care for our...

This article is first published in July, 2015 on Public Seminars. Economic globalization is much in the news these days, most recently as...