Life in Chicago has changed dramatically over the past month. And if this new collective reality has not yet reached your doorstep, it’s coming. We are in a time when we all must ask ourselves: What is my role in America’s story?
Read my story: lithophytestories.substack.com/p/if-you-com...

Need a break from 2025? Spend a few minutes with me in 1985: lithophytestories.substack.com/p/miles-from...

When I hear Trump admire authoritarian tactics, it sends a chill down my spine.

Read my latest story: open.substack.com/pub/lithophy...

Among American public servants, Titanic metaphors abound lately. Jacques and Lily May Futrelle—distant ancestors by marriage—were writers at the height of their careers when they boarded the Titanic in April 1912. Their tale is worth revisiting. Read it here: open.substack.com/pub/lithophy...

I tried to write an op ed about what happened to #USAID, #globalhealthanddevelopment, and America, over the past 6 weeks. What came out was a song. And a sermon, a love letter, a prayer.

Read it here: open.substack.com/pub/lithophy...

And remember: We can write, and sing, any song we want.

NEW: USAID source says staff are scrambling to save archived copies of US regulations before they're gone & are being actively locked out of systems, including a publicly available database of USAID documents.

WIRED has built software to systematically check the status of 1,374 government domains.

“Her longing to escape the devastation of the hurricane was overpowered by a deep need to remain in her community.” If that’s not an apt metaphor for the way so many of us are feeling right now, I don’t know what is.