Ireland started with artists because they were an easy case: chronically underpaid, culturally necessary, structurally abandoned by the market, and the political argument was winnable. But the experiment proves something more general: unconditional income produces more output, not less, generates return and not just expenditure, and retains people in socially valuable work who would otherwise give up.

Although this effort may seem minor compared to any war, it clearly shows how Trump tries to control any government institution that doesn’t fit with his agenda, including our nation’s top cultural and performance venue. 

The Grand Old Party, in Washington, is far from grand these days.

If you should be 80, if it is so, if you are that lucky, then do it well. You can and will be in your 70s for many years -- but cross into your 80s, and you are in a land apart.

Late in my retirement years I have been learning how to make Italian dishes.

The two words “American” and “imperialism” are joining up again thanks to President Trump, two other words that should really be separated. To be accurate, what we are witnessing is “Trump imperialism.”