The word community is in the news a lot these days. We hear about the black community, the LGBTQ community, the deaf community, the science community - large groups bonded by common identity or interests. What we hear less about is the value of community on a small scale.

You’re watching a production of an American Musical theater classic. The melodies are glorious, but the dated stereotypes are so intrusive they feel like a stone in your shoe. Racist or sexist bias makes it impossible to enjoy the play.

I heard the name Julia Butterfly Hill on the radio the other day and it gave me pause.

I signed up for the Vermont Community Leadership Summit out of curiosity, and because I only had to roll down the hill to Castleton University to attend.

From The Princess Bride and Back to the Future , to The Empire Strikes Back and Revenge of the Nerds , dozens of watershed films populated the formative years of my youth in the 1980s.

The national turmoil caused by the nomination of Bret Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court was deeply disturbing to me – and to many.

In the criminal justice system, three groups have agency: the victim, the offender, and society at large. Our ability to balance these interests will determine the efficacy of our criminal justice system.

I’ve been in a slump, discouraged by our national politics and a sense that it isn’t truth that matters these days, but which side is better at manipulation when our friend Gretchen asked if we’d like to watch closing arguments in a murder trial. My wife and I were visiting Gretchen in North Carolina and this invitation may sound odd for a supposedly fun trip, but perhaps odder still - we said yes.

In my college town students were not allowed to vote. Heck, they could take over the town, the mayor at the time famously said, and the county election commissioners agreed.

When Baltimore born and raised Alia Malek entered law school in 1997, she wanted to be an Arab face helping people of all groups defend their civil rights.