Spring Break With Our Teenagers
I am perhaps one of the rare parents who LOVES parenting teenagers, and being with all three of them for a few uninterrupted days in Florida was glorious. We played…
George Inness, Landscape, 1888, oil on canvas, 22 1/8 x 27 9/16 in. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of the Estate of Charles F. Brush 1929.464
Show Up With Care
I’ve been concerned by the resurgence of the r-word in our culture. I’ve felt anxiety over political policies and news stories, and I’ve dug into data about our culture’s epidemic of loneliness. It’s easy to worry…
March 2025 Favorites
Favorite books, essays, podcasts episodes, and more that I enjoyed in the month of March, plus recent political news that I'm paying attention to... Books: Memoir: Memorial Days by Geraldine…
When Talking About Feelings Is Hard, Try Writing
Penny has always loved reading and writing. She realized years ago that sometimes she can’t use words to talk about her feelings or thoughts, but she can write about them.…
S8 E14 | Want to Change Culture? Show Up With Care with Andy Crouch
Apple YouTube Spotify More! How does language, both careless and careful, shape our world? What's the connection between social status and the words we choose? How does technology influence our…
In the Room Where Decisions Are Made
I will never forget the day that our daughter Penny said to me, “It doesn’t only matter what you think.” We were shopping for a dress, and I was being…
College Campus Tour
William was home for spring break, and he mentioned to Penny that he hadn’t actually seen where she goes to school. She gave us both a tour of her college…
COGNOSCENTI | The Trump administration’s rhetoric about disability diminishes us all
Grateful to write today for Cognoscenti/WBUR, Boston’s NPR station (read the full essay here): "The language we use and the stories we tell shape our behavior, writes Amy Julia Becker.…
S8 E13 | What Solitude Gives Us After Catastrophe with Pico Iyer
Apple YouTube Spotify More! What happens when we step away from the noise of daily life and into silence? Author Pico Iyer joins Amy Julia Becker to explore the themes…
Spread the Word to End the Word
To my knowledge, no one has ever called our daughter Penny by the most common slur used to demean people with intellectual disabilities, the r-word. I’m glad she hasn’t been…
