I’ve mentioned before that a great way to prepare for a journey is to read. I wrote about this in Book and a Backpack: Belfast and have continued to read books regardless of where I traveled. Japan is no different. Before I leave for Japan I hope to have read the following: These are not …
I’ve already mentioned that I have had a long interest in Japan. One of my minor fields in college was Asian studies, but even before that I started studying Japan. I remember two of the most memorable books I read in high school, Musashi, by Eiji Yoshikawa and Shogun, by James Clavell were set in …
I just finished a great professional development with NCTA (National Consortium for Teaching about Asia) in which teachers from all over the US, who teach a number of different subjects and grades, got together (virtually) to read The Land of Big Numbers. It came at a time when I was extremely busy and it was …
On Twitter, Adam James Smith has started an every-Friday #ReadQuixote trend where people read Don Quixote chapter by chapter every week of the year (DQ has 52 chapters). I picked up Don Quixote at a thrift shop in Philly years ago, not too far from the Don Quixote statue Spain donated to the City of …
Today is the opening ceremony of the 2022, Beijing Olympic Games. It seems like it was just yesterday that Beijing controversially hosted the Summer Olympics in 2008. Now, rather than a global focus on the PRC government persecution of Tibetans in Tibet, it is the Uighurs in Xinjiang who are facing dire odds. I personally …
Thich Nhat Hanh, the Zen teacher, died today at age 95. His teachings have been influential in my life for many years, from first seeing his mindful walking practice in Los Angeles, to visiting the temple where he trained in Vietnam, to reading the the latest work inspired by his teachings, “Happy Teachers Change the …
Three years ago I talked to my dad’s uncle, Fr. John Baumann, about community organizing and his role in founding PICO (now Faith in Action International). It was a great chance to get to know my family better and hear about some of his amazing experiences building an organization to help people. From the original …
We are looking at the Spanish Civil War in my 20th Century History Class and it still seems remarkable to me that Franco remained in power and pivoted to an internationally respected (or at least tolerated) status. Here is a conversation I had with an expert on Spain on the Hour of History Podcast:
Today, I joined a monthly peace walk in the Poplar neighborhood of Philadelphia. We started the walk at Chenrezig Tibetan Buddhist Center and walked from Marshall to Girard and 7th to Poplar and back. The folks at the TBC walk for peace the second Saturday of each month, led by the Dharma in Action Committee. …
It is always exciting to get an email from a publisher who wants to promote a new book. It wasn’t until about a year into the creation of the Hour of History Podcast that publishers started reaching out to me about new books. Before the pandemic, they would say that a book was in the …