Do ‘elder Goths’ hold the secret to aging successfully?
In a culture that already treats older women as frightful, why not own that, and become the most fabulous grand dame of darkness the world has ever seen?
David Walter
New York journalist writing about politics, sports, movies, design, and the environment. Clips @ NYT, WSJ, Washington Post, Economist, and the Princeton Alumni Weekly.
A New Gold Standard For Green Design
“We’re not going to make it on climate change." As floods, fires and temperatures worsen, these architects design homes to withstand extreme weather. Rather than building more "gadget" houses, what Duany and Plater-Zyber want to see is a tougher, more urgent green architecture - buildings that can stand up to the next century of climatic assaults.
‘Money is Never Just Money’
The Trump tax cuts inspired hundreds of companies to give their employees one-time bonuses. How do we measure their impact?
Will a new generation save fox hunting?
It’s fox hunting — not baseball, football or basketball — that provides the longest historical through-line between sport and power in American life.
Can D.C.’s longest-serving ambassador get the U.S. to stop snubbing his tiny nation?
“No,” he said, “but I know Trump doesn’t have time to play four hours of golf.” He paused for a moment and then amended his statement. “Not with an ambassador from Palau, anyway.”
As Polo Sheds Its Elitist Image, Teams Crop Up on Campus
In an age when formerly obscure sports like lacrosse have grown in popularity on American campuses, the United States Polo Association is counting on newly formed college teams like Alfred State’s to expand the sport beyond its traditional moneyed enclaves.
Tiny Tuvalu Gets the Eco-Art Treatment
Year on year, the impacts of climate change are hard to see: air temperatures warming by a few tenths of a degree here, sea levels rising by a few millimeters there. This poses a challenge to the artists who tackle climate change – a challenge that Taiwan’s Vincent J.F. Huang addresses by steamrolling right over it.
China's Rising Tide in the Caribbean
Beijing's study of Soviet Union strategy in the islands is paying dividends.
Hong Kong: Hollywood's Chinese Punching Bag
As action directors chase the mainland movie boom, wary Beijing censors tell them to keep the mayhem offshore.
Thai Broken Rice
Ask farmers in the village of Ban Laitung what they think of the Thai government's rice subsidy scheme, and they tell you that actually, please, they'd prefer it if Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra stopped buying up rice harvests at prices 50% above market levels.
Great Moments in Walletology
The "lost wallet scenario" is one of the core moral dilemmas of our time. Accordingly, researchers have zeroed in on lost wallets as a cross-cultural indicator of social trust—a regard for and faith in others that economists say can boost countries' growth.
The Great Pacific Tuna Cartel
With China's support, eight remote island states have imposed fishing limits and closed international waters.
The Case of The Missing Uighur
A former Guantánamo detainee goes missing on a small Pacific Island. How did a stateless man with no passport escape the geographical equivalent of a locked room?
Sequestration in Paradise
Palau worries it will be collateral damage in Washington's budget fight.
Dorm Rooms With Bragging Rights
As college-bound seniors look forward to the schools they will call home next fall, it is a good bet that many have no idea just how steeped in history their future homes are.
Dinky or Bus? A Town Is Torn
The run of the train known as the Princeton Dinky is both impressively long and unusually short. For 145 years, this rail link in a college town has ferried students and commuters over the briefest of distances.
