The Jewish New Year is over but the Kol Nidre sermon our rabbi gave has stuck with me. She started with a guessing game – “I’ll read four statements and you guess if they are modern and which are ancient.” One was about environmental destruction that could have been in today’s N.Y. Times but was actually from ancient China. Another, which spoke powerfully about the existential dangers of a new technology, was from ancient … Read More
I first met many of my relatives in a tunnel underneath Lincoln Center Theater. They had been watching the matinee of Comedy of Errors and recognized me, a long lost cousin, on stage. After the final bow, I got out of costume and headed out the tunnel only to find a mob of strangers blocking my way. A small women stepped out of the crowd and said, “We’re your cousins,” to which I said, … Read More
My first Social Security check arrived the other day and my Actors’ Equity pension will start as soon as I get the forms notarized. A huge thanks to former Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins, America’s first female cabinet member and the driving force behind the Social Security act, and Francis Wilson, the first president of Actors’ Equity. Because of the good work of Frances, Francis, and thousands of other progressive activists, I am now … Read More
I’m in the last few laps of a stage directing marathon – three shows in three cities in three months: Quixote had a sold out run at the Arcata Playhouse in mid-April. Cavalcade of Clowns brought 15 clowns into San Francisco’s Club Fugazi on Tax Day. Under Friedl’s Wing will play in Poughkeepsie and Manhattan on May 2 and 3 (and then in San Francisco this July and Prague a year from now). Click … Read More
This wave of resistance reminds me of Berkeley back in the day…and it’s different, too. People of all ages and cultures are now practicing politics with large doses of joy, real solidarity, mutual aid and wonderful art, along with hard-assed non-violent resistance. We’re resisting at the Super Bowl and in the streets, on picket lines and in court, in boycotts and on ballots – Bad Bunny, Toñita and inflatable frogs, with whistles blowing, videos … Read More
I recently realized that for the last 58 years I’ve lived within 10 miles of my childhood home in Berkeley. Me, the world traveler, the road warrior, the guy with mad packing skills and a foolproof anti-jetlag routine, is a homebody! Bizarre. And I’m not just a homebody here in the Bay – I’ve got homes away from home and even homes that you can’t find on a map – the circus world, the … Read More
Last winter I heard historian Heather Cox Richardson say, “We are living in effervescent times.” My first thought was “WTF!” but now I’m quite sure she was right. A couple of decades in the future, a Heather Cox Richardson protégé might write an article like this about our effervescent times: “By Thanksgiving 2025, after a blistering 10 months of attacking democratic norms, the MAGA movement was finished. It didn’t look that way at the … Read More
As I saunter slowly toward the beginnings of my eighth decade on earth, picking through the rubble of our democracy, I’m glad to have my mastiff/lab Val at my side. She does wonders for my physical and mental health. Here are some Val-uable lessons I’ve learned from my dog: Mellow Mornings When Val was a puppy, I took the 2am – 9am shift; now that she sleeps hard for 12 hours every night, I … Read More
It’s time to get ready for a NO KINGS rally on Saturday, October 18, even if that means really stretch your comfort zone. If the idea of an American king once sounded like hyperbole, Trump’s attacks on L.A., DC, Portland and Chicago have made it very real. “Trump wants to militarize major cities across the U.S. so we get used to the idea of military on the streets before the 2026 elections.” – JB … Read More
It is time. As Rebecca Solnit recently wrote, “Authoritarianism is here, but it’s weak and stupid and can still be beaten.” So, it is time. Time for all of us to expand our comfort zones or risk having them collapse in on us as they have for families who’ve lost their healthcare, had a parent deported, or are skipping meals and losing their homes. It is time to do things we’d rather not do, … Read More