American Odyssey

To historian Craig Fehrman the 8,000-mile expedition (1804-06) indelibly associated with Meriwether Lewis and William Clark is nothing less than “our national Odyssey.” To this TCM junkie their epic crossing of the continent suggests a road picture with more perils than Pauline and more plot twists than anything starring Hope and Crosby. Fehrman spent five

Less Choice, More Happiness

Fifteen years ago, when my older children were in preschool at our synagogue, I participated in a focus group. The synagogue’s leadership wanted to understand why they were having trouble getting young families to attend services and become members—even if their kids were enrolled—and also why, once their kids finished preschool, the families didn’t come