Like the person who always wants to order last at a restaurant because they haven’t made up their mind yet, I always get stuck at the dinner table on Thanksgiving trying to think up something that’s the right blend of witty and sweet for the “I’m thankful for…” round robin. It never quite comes out [...]

What shocked me equally was the richness of eastern European history – even of recent vintage – that I had not been taught while growing up, simply because we did not deign to study the enemy. Some shackles are much less noticeable, I suppose.

But it was 2am, I was groggy from working on my thesis for 12 hours straight, and The Pixies were playing in St Paul the week of the conference. I bought my plane and concert tickets and went back to writing.