What to Do About Our Feelings of Helplessness and Despair — The last six weeks of intense destruction in the Gaza Strip have felt, in some ways, like the final straw in a series of weird and violent events that have been escalating since 2015. From the November 13 terrorist attacks in Paris, to the election of Donald Trump, the Women’s…

Systems of Abuse in Structures of Power — [This story was originally published in January 2021.] I grew up with an emotionally abusive parent. I was the target. I believe there were a lot of reasons that caused this parent to be emotionally abusive to me, but that’s really not my concern. My concern is how those reasons…

Proportionality in self defense at the individual and international levels — Over the past three weeks, the violence in the Middle East has brought to the forefront of the concepts of self-defense and, more specifically, proportionality. Israel’s response to the October 7 attacks from Hamas is being conducted in the name of self defense. Since October 7, Israel has dropped 12000…

What’s behind the inconsistent support for self defense. — In February 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, European and North American world leaders were slow to respond to Ukraine‘s call for help. Germany outright blocked providing assistance to Ukraine at the time, only changing its position when German Foreign Minister Annalena Braebock pointed out to Chancellor Olaf Scholz that Ukraine…

Thoughts on the international response to the Israel-Hamas conflict — One of the most horrific things to witness about the current genocide happening in Gaza right now is watching major political powers descending on the carnage to exploit it. Russia and China are not supporting Palestinians out of the goodness of their hearts. Israel bombed the Aleppo airport in Syria…

[After this year’s final Supermoon on 29 September, I was reminded of this exploration of the werewolf myth from a few years ago. This essay was originally published in Athena Talks.] Facebook reminded me this morning that, on this day six years ago, I had PMS. “Hormonal blues,” I had…

The misogyny behind everyone’s favorite insult — I was chatting with my friend, the Danish artist Augusta Atla, about feminism and female artists recently. Augusta said the most famous female artist in Denmark “is a Karen”. For a second, I wasn’t sure what she meant: was she saying that the most famous female artist in Denmark is…

Hugh Hefner, Harvey Weinstein and the real-life damage of male fantasy — [With the recent spate of sexual assault scandals among the likes of Danny Masterson and Russell Brand, it seemed like a good time to repost this article and the things I learned about how power works in the entertainment industry. This article was originally published in Athena Talks.] In the…

When foundations start to crack — The other week it was really hot here in Berlin, so I decided to cool off by taking a dip in one of Berlin‘s many lakes. Believe it or not, Berlin is full of forests and parks and lakes, which are popular destinations for swimming, boating, and water sports. …