This article is the second in a series. Read part one here.
Long before he found politics, Barack Obama found writing. These days, the world knows Obama as an audaciously hopeful (and popular) former head of state, but as Craig Fehrman explained in Literary Hub, “Obama-the-writer came before Obama-the-candidate.” At every stage of Obama’s improbable journey, the act of writing has helped him make sense of the world around him — and understand where his story fits.
Over the past year, I’ve occasionally sought refuge in old profiles and articles about Obama and his presidency. I do so not to…
Welcome to the Medium edition of Reframe Your Inbox, a pseudo-semi-monthly(ish) email newsletter in which I share some meandering thoughts on politics, books, work, and life. This article is a lightly edited version of a newsletter I published on October 28, 2020. Subscribe here to get Reframe Your Inbox in (where else?) your inbox.
One housekeeping update to start. This will likely be the last edition of Reframe Your Inbox for a while. I plan to write fewer newsletters and articles, and instead spend these hours on a new book proposal. …
How do they get away with it?
We asked that question in 2016 when Republicans took the unprecedented step of refusing to consider President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, and chose instead to leave a vacant seat on the nation’s highest court for nearly a year.
We asked that question in 2017 when Republicans, who spent the entire Obama presidency hyperventilating that the federal deficit would drive America toward socialist collapse, took power and immediately passed a $1.5 trillion tax cut for corporations and the wealthy without giving a second thought to how they’d pay for it.
We’ve been asking…
Welcome to the Medium edition of Reframe Your Inbox, a pseudo-semi-weekly(ish) email newsletter in which I share some meandering thoughts on politics, books, work, and life. This article is a lightly edited version of a newsletter I published on September 20, 2020. Subscribe here to get Reframe Your Inbox in (where else?) your inbox.
Readers of my book, Reframe the Day, and some of my other writing know I’m a fan of Cal Newport’s work. …
Welcome to the Medium edition of Reframe Your Inbox, a pseudo-semi-weekly(ish) email newsletter in which I share some meandering thoughts on politics, work, and life. This article is a lightly edited version of a newsletter I published on September 7, 2020. You can subscribe here to get Reframe Your Inbox in… your inbox.
In January, when I finished reading Isabel Wilkerson’s 2010 book, The Warmth of Other Suns, I was amazed. I also had questions.
How, I wondered, does someone write a book like this? As the subtitle (“the epic story of America’s Great Migration”) suggests, The Warmth of Other…
Welcome to the Medium edition of Reframe Your Inbox, a pseudo-semi-weekly(ish) email newsletter in which I share some meandering thoughts on politics, work, and life. This article is a lightly edited version of a newsletter I published on August 25, 2020. You can subscribe here to get Reframe Your Inbox in… your inbox.
Over the past six months, I’ve read quite a few novels about global plagues and pandemics. Perhaps too many. First came Stephen King’s The Stand. …
Welcome to the Medium edition of Reframe Your Inbox, a pseudo-semi-weekly(ish) email newsletter in which I share some meandering thoughts on politics, work, and life. This article is a lightly edited version of newsletters I published on August 2 and 9, 2020. Head here to sign up to get Reframe Your Inbox in… your inbox.
One evening a couple weeks ago, I was washing dishes and listening to Ezra Klein’s podcast, as I do many evenings. On this particular evening, instead of thinking about the interesting ideas that Ezra and his guest were discussing, I was thinking a meta-thought about…
“Without a doubt the greatest living American.”
YouTube comments are not usually where one finds a meaningful analysis of American history. Or a compelling argument. Or really anything of substance. But there, underneath a decidedly non-HD video of Congressman John Lewis giving a speech to what I think was a health care advocacy organization, was a line that said it all: “Without a doubt the greatest living American.”
I came across that comment sometime in early 2012, during one of those magical nights when the Internet manages to do exactly what the tech CEOs promise: deliver connection and inspiration, even…
Welcome to the Medium edition of Reframe Your Inbox, a pseudo-semi-weekly(ish) email newsletter in which I share some meandering thoughts on politics, work, and life. This article is a lightly edited version of a newsletter I published on July 21, 2020. You can subscribe here to get Reframe Your Inbox in… your inbox.
As he was for millions of people, John Lewis was my hero. I was lucky enough to spend some time with him on a couple different occasions, including as a young Hill staffer interviewing him for a graduate school essay. …
Welcome to the Medium edition of Reframe Your Inbox, a pseudo-semi-weekly(ish) email newsletter in which I share some meandering thoughts on politics, work, and life. This article is a lightly edited version of a newsletter I published on July 14, 2020. You can subscribe here to get Reframe Your Inbox in… your inbox.
I’ve spent a decent chunk of the last few months trying to re-engage with Instagram and, to a lesser extent, Twitter and LinkedIn. (I never entertained the concept of returning to Facebook.) My goal was to do what I thought I needed to do as the author…
Author of “Reframe the Day” & former U.S. Senate speechwriter. I write about politics and life, occasionally at the same time. Subscribe & more: www.adaml.blog.