Greenacre Park, New York City
I was just in New York City and discovered Greenacre Park, a tennis-sized park on 51st Street between a synagogue and apartment building. Greenacre Park was opened in 1971,
“Work less, sleep better” at the School of Life, Amsterdam
So this is what I'm doing on November 23: appearing at The School of Life in Amsterdam, in an event titled "Work less - Sleep better." The Dutch
To fight climate change, institute a four-day workweek
Just in time for Columbus Day, Alex Williams, coauthor of Inventing the Future, has a piece in Quartz explaining how we could fight climate change by shifting to
Keep on exercising– your brain will thank you
There's been a lot of good science that establishes the cognitive benefits of exercise. In the New York Times, Gretchen Reynolds reports on a new study that finds
Stimulants, soldiers, and the Vietnam War
I recently wrote about the new book Blitzed, which look at drugs by the Nazis and how the ideology of National Socialism-- and the increasingly desperate needs of the
“You will eat vegetable soup again today and like it; Mommy’s beginning chapter three:” Shirley Jackson and creative lives
The author and critic Ruth Franklin has a terrific article about Shirley Jackson in New York Magazine (it's a selection from her new book, Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life,
“We need to start viewing time for reflection as a necessity, not a luxury”
In a 2015 interview, David Ryan Polgar explains how busyness interferes with creativity: We need to start viewing time for reflection as a necessity, not a luxury. Unfortunately, we
“I have often been in the unpleasant position of having to wait for lucky ideas:” Helmholtz and the frustrations of creative insight
The canonical (or stereotypical) view of the creative figure is one who is struck by inspiration, often after long periods of hard labor and frustration. This is an
“National Socialism in pill form:” Drugs and the ideology of perpetual work in the Third Reich
One of the images that always sticks with me when I think about the virtues of rest (and mention in my book) is that of Winston Churchill regularly
The most important creative collaboration of your life is with your own Muse
Henri Poincaré was one of the most astute observers of the relationship between the conscious and subsconcious mind in creative work, and he developed a pretty high degree of