When I lived in Izmir, a Turkish TV spot shocked me: it showed an image of an elderly Black man, evidently homeless, sleeping in a stairwell directly beneath a sign that pointed up the stairs and read “White House” followed by the caption “Yorum Yok” or “No Comment.” This was about the same time that a major Turkish newspaper criticized the Erdoğan government over the death by hypothermia of an elderly homeless man up in Istanbul, sparking outrage among my Turkish coworkers. These two media pieces, taken together, led me to wonder about the links between the media and public policy.

When I was a kid, PBS School House Rock spots taught me things like the Preamble to the US Constitution, and how bills become law.  These and other PBS shows like Sesame Street demonstrated the concept of cooperation and taught a generation of kids…

I was reminded by a humorous meme on WhatsApp. It went something like: “I am at a committee meeting. It’s a committee of one, I’m talking to myself.”

I talk to myself a great deal, although not necessarily out loud. I do it even more nowadays, since COVID and since, more recently, my husband’s illness. But my committee is not really one person, despite it being very internal. And the meeting agendas are always the same. Of course, I am the Chairwoman. As I said, the meetings are not “face to face.” They are more like the equivalent of a Zoom meeting, where you stare at your own face and wonder why, once again, the poor light is showing you at your worst…

I say to my absent family overseas: I miss you terribly. Especially our son, my brother, my sister, and their respective partners. FaceTime and WhatsApp videos are…