The pandemic has been wreaking havoc in China, not due to the virus but due to the Chinese government’s policies. Shanghai has been locked down since March 28, and people are scrambling for food and other vital supplies on a…

The most shameful mistake made in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic was keeping children out of classrooms. Many health authorities, public officials, journalists, teachers unions, and scientists share in the responsibility. It will take a yearslong reckoning to account for…

Finally able to take my first post-lockdown trip abroad, I booked a ticket from my nearest international airport, Oslo, to my longtime default holiday destination, Amsterdam. I had no agenda; I just wanted a change of scenery. At the airport…

As more and more studies demonstrate the devastating impact of school closures on children — including the toll on children’s physical and mental well-being as well as learning loss — new revelations are shedding light on the tactics one school…

Sacramento Zealous advocates for pandemic restrictions ought to pay careful attention to a recent federal court ruling if they want to understand why many Americans are so leery of their endless and inconsistent public-health directives. Officials often used their newfound…

The California trip didn’t get off to a good start. Going cattle class in jet, even just for four hours, is rarely close to comfortable. But this was the first time I had to do it with a mask on….

Last Thursday, Israel’s government extended its travel ban on all foreigners entering the country over fears surrounding the Omicron coronavirus variant. This ruling, which expires on December 22, follows months of Israel mandating some of the most stringent global travel…

The newest COVID variant — Omicron, Nu, Xi, Optimus Prime, whatever you want to call it — is younger than my current haircut. We still know so little about it. Nevertheless, out of a supposed abundance of caution, governments around…

I fell in love with Germany, or Bavaria anyway, in December 1989. The now-defunct German GQ magazine brought me from the states for an interview over my highly controversial AIDS writings. I stayed in a first-class Munich hotel and was wined…

Tragedy is a gift from the gods to men. I am not talking about the tragedy of the tragic poets. I am talking about the tragedy that, from time to time, all men are condemned to undergo. But the gods…