A Few Good Maps

I’ve probably said this before, but I really like maps. In college, I bought a huge collection of used maps at a geography department sale to use as wrapping paper. When we lived in Oregon, we got a gigantic one of the state to put on the living room wall. (We also got an even […]

The Last Word: January 12 – 16, 2015

Monday: Guest Stephanie Paige Ogburn shops for an eye surgeon, doesn’t like what she sees. Tuesday: Guest Colin Norman dons his best snow goose camouflage, tries to blend in with a flock. Wednesday: Michelle knows better than to freelance for fun and profit, nonetheless has advice for editors who might smother either. Thursday: Jessa seeks solid research on suspected Alzheimier’s, comes up with nuns. Friday: Erik retrieves jaw from floor, explains one of the greatest athletic achievements of all […]

The Greatest Athlete in the World

On Wednesday, at 3:25 Pacific Standard Time, two scruffy, skinny men embraced atop Yosemite’s El Capitan. To the casual observer, just a couple dudes in a national park trying to get off the mountain before sunset. Yet, these men had accomplished something so amazing that the sitting US president would call and congratulate them. So difficult […]

Freelancing Sucks. Long Live Freelancing.

Last month, Fast Company senior editor Reyhan Harmanci published a column called “Freelancing Sucks.” She wrote: Everyone knows this: the freelancers, who are forced to beg for months-late checks; the editors, who surf on an endless sea of referrals, looking for unicorn writers who turn in copy clean and on time; the readers, who get the […]

Yelping My Eye Surgeon

For as long as I can remember, I’ve dreamed of waking up, opening my eyes, and seeing clearly. I’ve worn glasses since age 8. Without them, I can’t see my partner’s face in the bed next to me. I can’t see the clock on the phone sitting on my nightstand, or stargaze when I’m sleeping […]

Debunking Hollywood: Falling!!!

Debunking Hollywood is LWON’s very occasional series that takes a hard science look at common TV and movie tropes.  Our hero is in dire trouble yet again. He stands on the rooftop, a villain in front of him, his feet inches from a seven-story fall. Sweat glistens on his brow as he fearlessly throws a punch but […]

Gender in the Paleolithic

Camped with seven adults and five children on the south-central coast of Alaska, I was doing a little writing experiment. I had been following possible Paleolithic routes, taking off with adventurers across glaciers and mountains to get a sense of living and traveling in the same landscapes people faced tens of thousands of years ago. […]

A Snow Day

The first snow of the year, and the first noticeable snow of this winter, fell here in D.C. on Tuesday. Yes, we know that our reaction to snow makes no sense. No, we don’t have enough snowplows. No, we don’t know how to drive in snow. You’re very clever for noticing, People Who Live In […]