Evanston RoundTable, Oct. 19, 2017 From Kafka to the Existentialists, alienation and isolation have been central tenets of modern life. As Ralph Waldo Emerson put it, everyone experiences “the same

Evanston RoundTable, Oct. 5, 2017 There is a big upside to the downside of life’s brevity: it focuses our attention on getting things done. Many years ago I volunteered at

Evanston RoundTable, Sept. 21, 2017 Northwestern University’s Block Museum is readying a major exhibit on the English poet and artist William Blake, who died in obscurity in 1827 at the

Evanston RoundTable, Sept. 21, 2017 In a world brought low by hateful politics, toxic weather, and a seemingly endless supply of misery and divisiveness, it is well to remember the

Evanston RoundTable, Sept. 7, 2017 I’m the sort of fellow who, enjoying a bowl of ice cream, begins to regret the last few licks; who sees the beautiful fall season

Evanston RoundTable, Aug. 24, 2017 Are you feeling dull, depressed, muddled? Looking for ways to brighten and improve your life? To stay mentally sharp, change things up! Change can be

Evanston RoundTable, August 10, 2017 Some sayings are about as useful as the breath used to say them. (Including this one.) Not all, of course. Whether you call them sayings,

July 27, 2017, Evanston RoundTable It may not be clear what a hogeye is. Some say it’s a flat-bottomed riverboat, others the harpoon man on a whaling vessel. One thing

July 27, 2017, Evanston RoundTable There is a big story out there that most people don’t know—a story that is exciting, mysterious, deeply important, and profoundly life-altering. That story is