Today I was live on Connecticut Public Radio’s Colin McEnroe Show to talk ancestors and Ancestor Trouble. The hour begins as Jenny Strauss contemplates the legacy of her great-grandfather Lewis Strauss, currently depicted in “Oppenheimer” by Robert Downey, Jr. She refers to him as the film’s antihero, which was my takeaway of the director’s intentions after seeing it last night. . . .
When an ancestor who was persecuted also persecuted others–in even more devastating ways.
Washington Post reporter Sophia Nguyen predicts Obama’s summer 2023 books will include Ancestor Trouble by Maud Newton
My summer editorial offerings focus on my greatest strength and interest: working with fellow writers who are reckoning with their own troubled family histories.
Just for fun, I’m going to post an irregular series on native planting. Calling all fellow gardeners and lovers of pollinators in these parts and beyond—advice, corrections, general shooting of the shit welcome. The first installment includes Virginia rose, arrowwood viburnum, various kinds of creeping phlox, some native grasses, and a passing mention of false indigo, about which more soon.