Welcome

This blog at present is updated infrequently and mostly serves as an archive. I'm currently a regular writer for Splice Today, where my author page is here. I'm a freelance copy editor and fact checker for Scientific American and do editorial work for various other publications and organizations. My book In Dewitt's Footsteps is available for purchase on Amazon and at select venues and events; my book website is here. Thank you for stopping by.

Death and immortality on the Shore

Some thoughts after a dark summer, at Splice Today: "The Solace of the Jersey Shore."

Family history

At Splice Today, I look back eight decades; "When My Family Became Refugees."

Look back without anger

At Splice Today, I look, in a very different light now, at a hero of my youth: "Norman Podhoretz’s Pointless Pugnacity." And here, for old times' sake, are my reviews from the Commentary archives.

Some turning points

My most recent at Splice Today: "Your Moment in History" and "Lessons from the 1970s and Middle-Earth."

DeWitt Clinton's 250th birthday [updated]

Join me in celebrating at the Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse on Saturday, March 2 at 11 am. Also later that day at Buffalo Maritime Center. (Update: Buffalo at 4:30.)

Upcoming event and quite a milestone: DeWitt Clinton's 250th Birthday. At @ErieCanalMuseum on Sat., March 2, at 11 AM. https://t.co/HQs9jnnIuq

— Erie Canal Book (@ErieBook) February 13, 2019

UPDATE:

Highly impressed by Buffalo Maritime Center, where I spoke for DeWitt Clinton's 250th birthday. Look forward to riding in replica Seneca Chief one day. pic.twitter.com/f2RYesEgxZ

— Kenneth Silber (@kennethsilber) March 3, 2019

UPCOMING EVENT: Schenectady County Historical Society, April 13.

One more update:

"DeWitt Clinton's Sense of Time," Splice Today.

Nixon recollections

Some thoughts on an old book and more.

New party

I consider the possibility.

History readings

I write about reading and studying history, Richard Brookhiser's latest book, and more.

Otherworldly evening

At Splice Today, I report on my recent evening with the SETI Institute, and a memory of Lou Dobbs: "Encountering the Extraterrestrial."

Poached review

I review Rachel Nuwer's Poached: Inside the Dark World of Wildlife Tracking at Splice Today.

Family history

Alexei Bayer has written about my family's (father side) history for a Russian Jewish publication. It's in Russian but can be read with Google Translate; but note that the machine translation is not always on target.

An afternoon on the water

At Splice Today, I offer "A View from New York Harbor."

Some other pics from that day:

Max Boot and me

And the non-future of the Republican Party. My latest at Splice Today.

Fake news delivery

My review of LikeWar is here, complete with an Election 2016 anecdote from my own driveway.

Two books that aren't about Trump

I review them here.

In Splice Today today

Science “knows not party politics,” wrote physician and botanist David Hosack in 1811. Hosack took his neutrality seriously. He avoided not only aligning with a political party but also taking sides in the political rivalry between his friends Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. He was the doctor who attended to Hamilton at the site of the 1804 duel and at Hamilton’s deathbed a day later. Though stricken by Hamilton’s loss, Hosack maintained his friendship with Burr.

The rest is here, including about Hosack's friendship with DeWitt Clinton.

Spartan story

Reflections on ancient Greece and Rick Wilson's new book here.

Venezuela memories

At Splice Today, a bit of memoir: "The Venezuela I Once Knew." Excerpt:

Venezuela in the 1980s was not much of a tourist destination, though its troubles would get far worse. I was there three times, accompanying my father on business trips for the New York-based import-export firm where he traded what in Venezuela were frijoles; in Puerto Rico, habichuelas; back home, beans. 

Recent news that “Trump pressed aides about invading Venezuela” suggests a serious deficiency in the president’s judgment. For me, it also stirs memories.

The roots of mendacity

Over at Splice Today, I review Michiko Kakutani's new book The Death of Truth.