The Public Humanist draws upon the talents and insights of over 40 Massachusetts humanists, filmmakers and writers, who contribute bi-weekly essays on a broad range of topics, many exploring the intersection between public policy and humanistic knowledge.
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I thought I’d already heard it all, so I was surprised at how suddenly raw I felt, reading what one vocational-technical high school student had written on a yellow sticky note: “Your never going to make it.” I guessed that she was quoting the words of...
This essay addresses working and economic conditions in Holyoke during the 1870s and 1880s as the city acquired industrial stature and some paper and textile workers attempted to organize. But it starts from the perspective of a paper maker who...
A couple of weeks ago, I attended a memorial service for Sokhorn Sem, the mother of one of the subjects of my film Monkey Dance. The service was held at the Khmer Buddhist Temple in Chelmsford, Massachusetts (Wat Triratanaram). Sokhorn’s battle with...
Another post for the Public Humanist! This time explaining why I am not a public humanist:
Recently, I worked on a project to develop a website for a PBS series called Keeping Score, a production of the San Francisco Symphony that presents...
As a child of the 1970s, like many in my generation, I have grown up somewhat in the political shadow of the decade before me. For the more conservative members of my family, the 1950s were a great source of nostalgia (especially in the ‘80s); but for...
