When the World Seems Awful, I Submerge Myself in the Vastness of the Universe

The Geological Timespan Is Long, and Our Time on Earth Is Short

From the TV remote to the group text to the ghoulish glow of the tablet I should have stowed before curling into bed: The world’s abiding awfulness is always just a click away. It’s as omnipresent as the WiFi it rides like a jet stream. It leaps between fellow citizens—a furrowed brow here, passing comment there—like a pathogen, a mood.

You’re aware, I presume, of what constitutes this awfulness? Of the climate crisis, the democracy crisis, and the election that’ll put both on the line. Of rising income inequality and eroding …

Trust Me on the Sunscreen

From Soothing Burns With Crushed Strawberries to Base Tans to SPF 50, Our Move Toward a Sun-Safe Future

It’s April 2000. I’m 14 years old, lying on a beach in the Bahamas, a bottle of SPF 20 at my side. I periodically check to see how my suntan …

Confessions of an Eclipse Chaser

For Four Decades I've Traveled the World, Tracking the 'Eye of God'

On August 21st this year, I will log my 26th solar eclipse and my 17th total solar eclipse. August 21st is when parts of the contiguous United States will fall …