But history still only talks about Edward Jenner… — But history still only talks about Edward Jenner… With the state of vaccination and how endless the debate over their use is defining our covid-era, I was thinking about the origins of vaccines, the history we have been told about their ‘discovery,’ and how the collective blindness of that history…

and not giving others the power to say who we are — When I first began work — paid full-time work, not seasonal dig work — as an archaeologist, it was a revelation when my first business cards arrived. After years of graduate school and fieldwork, it was almost like I had just received my birth certificate or social security card —…

and why Emily Dickinson is a true anti-hero — and why Emily Dickinson is a true anti-hero As we reach a new wall in these months of pandemics, of 2020, of 2021, of the anxiety and frustration that feels incessant and about to drive us all insane, or maybe already has — I thought about the first few months…

How personal experience is an invitation to the universal. — Several years ago I lived in Norway, in a house that held layers of history. It was an enormous house along the Trondheim fjord, built in the early twentieth century. …

Because these books deserve to be shared in good company. — Because these books deserve to be shared in good company. As the world shut down in March and we all found ourselves turning inward — and needing new outlets for imagination and travel — I thought of the books that I’ve read and re-read, both as a reader and as…

Because no one survives alone — Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here and you must treat it as a powerful stranger. — David Wagoner I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the word shelter. Shelter in place, the idea of sheltering, of the shelter…

What we will miss when winter is no longer a reality. — What we will miss when winter is no longer a reality. For the past two weeks in Anchorage, the daylight has grown stronger and more visible each morning — every gain of five minutes a noticeable revelation. …

How the history of telescopes helped me love confessional poetry — When I began writing poetry, I didn’t realize the power of the first-person voice in a poem — of how the personal is the vital doorway between writer and reader. None of my poems had an “I.” And they were boring — unclear, and unable…