Happy second Juneteeth, as a National Holiday
Juneteenth — June 19th, 1865 — was a watershed moment for enslaved Americans. It marks the end of the Civil War (in …
Traffic, stoplights, and equity
When I read Tom Vanderbilt’s book Traffic, I noticed that he had a big blind spot. He reviewed the history of traffic. …
Mean People and Their Stories
Mean people, The Book Review I am a sucker for contests. Most summers, I have tried to win the Somerville Library Summer …
Frederick Douglass on the 4th of July
“What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” asked Frederick Douglass. The Fourth of July speech is less than five minutes …