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Stuff to Feel Good About!

A collection of 10 issues

How to Win at Policymaking

The journalist David Plotz has what he calls the Plotz Principle, and I'm here to say that it might be one of the smartest, most underutilized policy strategies out there. Whomever is having the most fun wins. Take - as we recently discussed here - Connecticut Congresswoman Rosa

The Brilliance of Pizza Policy

On a warm day in May, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro from Connecticut took to the steps of the Capitol. "We are here to declare that New Haven is the pizza capital of the United States!" she enthused to a cheering delegation of roughly 100 CT pizza makers holding pizza

An Antidote to Burnout

In high school, a buddy of mine auditioned for a play with a bit I still remember. He walked onstage, took off the glasses he'd worn for as long as I'd known him. I can't see a whole lot when I'm not

How to Win By Losing

Most folks outside of Ohio don't know John Boccieri's name. Perhaps most folks inside Ohio don't know his name either. Or even how to pronounce it (BOW-cherry). But John Boccieri is a name worth knowing. He's a son of Youngstown, was an

What Quietly Helps Hold Democracy Together

There's a place where you can take stuff home for free and be trusted that you'll bring it back. The stuff isn't grimy or second-rate or chaotically strewn about, but systematically organized, updated, and cared for by professionals. This place also offers other free

Dispelling One of the Biggest Myths in Modern Politics

The story we get told is that everything is partisan and politicians can agree on nothing across the aisle. But, as a cashier recently said when I offhandedly remarked that it had been raining for years, "I call B.S." Point of fact: It had been raining for

For When You Want to Give Up All Hope of Policy Change

"This is something we really cannot duplicate in the United States," Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross tells the U.S. Senate Committee on Aging one August day in 1972. "In England," she continues, "it does not cost the patient a penny." She isn't talking

A Very Handy Tool for Navigating 2024

On a flight home the other weekend, I was reading my library copy of Poverty, by America. And one line came right off the page: "When we refuse to recognize what works, we risk swallowing the lie that nothing does." The unceasingly intense drumbeat of headlines, feeds, chyrons,

What To Do in 2024 Besides Give Money & Vote

The Buddhists talk about suffering as two arrows. The first arrow is what happens to us - we don't get the job, say. The second arrow is the meaning we make of it, how we respond to it - well, that's proof positive I'm

One Easy Policy Resolution for a Better Democracy

The grocery store was cheek to jowl. Lines of people with full carts, passing the time on their phones. I unloaded yogurt and hummus, red grapes, miles of cat food, overpriced cat litter (dogs, they say, have owners; cats have staff). My mind was already home, making lunch. The cashier