My time spent with people exploring Rome’s labyrinth of churches, streets, restaurants, museums, churches, and cafes and praying, learning about art, history and the Italian language, and of course eating, and drinking cappuccinos, espressos, and wine, allowed my friends and I to embrace challenges, differences, and build authentic and lasting relationships.
Read MoreThe Final Table offers a new way to confer culinary recognition: great chefs recognizing another as their own. With some adjustments, season two will be essential food television.
I recently visited Europe for the first time in four years, and the first time not as a student. Europe does not change; it is the Old World for a reason. A priest friend of mine I met in Rome put it nicely: “It’s not like they move the buildings.”
Read MoreFor those who have been subscribed to this newsletter from the start you may remember this article from all the way back in April(!). After a number of delays and a few rejections, this article finally found a place at The Federalist.
Read MoreBetween Second City and the nation's third largest media market it makes no sense to me why Chicago doesn't have a late night talk show. In this article I speculate about it -- the media and comedians don't intersect here like they do in New York or Los Angeles. But beyond that, America largely functions on a bi-coastal mentality. For a number of reasons, New York and L.A. run things. But Chicago is a respectably large city, and it would only be fitting if it reclaimed it's place in American culture.
Read MoreThe case of sick baby Charlie Gard has reignited the debate on the role of state in making health care decisions for those who are incapable of doing it themselves. In this case, should Charlie's parents be allowed to bring him to the United States for experimental treatment, or is it really in his "best interest" to be taken off life support, as the state claims?
Read MoreI've written about all kinds of different topics, from politics to religion to higher education -- and beer. For this piece I had the pleasure of interviewing Sean Mahoney from BuckleDown brewing in suburban Chicago.
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