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"Luke Ford reports all of the 'juicy' quotes, and has been doing it for years." (Marc B. Shapiro)
"This guy knows all the gossip, the ins and outs, the lashon hara of the Orthodox world. He’s an [expert] in... all the inner workings of the Orthodox world." (Rabbi Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff) LATEST POSTS:
- Scenes from a Documented Life: Mickey Kaus
- Scenes from a Documented Life: Eugene Volokh
- Scenes from the 155 IQ Life
- Scenes from the 105 IQ Life
- Scenes from the 75 IQ Life
- Scenes from the 85 IQ Life
- Scenes from the Passport Question
- Scenes from Human Resources
- Scenes from the Unsubscribe Economy
- Donny Pauling: The Producer Who Sold His Repentance
- Are There Any Serial Killers In 90035?
- Karl Taro Greenfeld: The Brother, the Correspondent, the Fire
- Bret Stephens
- My Stanley Fish Reading List
- Why So Much Elite Enthusiasm For The Odyssey?
- Are There Realistic Ways Of Unifying America?
- Scenes from the Chokepoint Economy
- Robert Putnam: The Man Who Counted What America Lost
- W. Bradford Wilcox: The Sociologist Who Tells America to Get Married
- Peter Moskos: The Cop Who Talks to People
BEST POSTS:
- * The Enlightenment Wasn’t Enlightened (6-23-26)
* Mr. Burge Draws The Line (6-23-26)
* 'Improving on Democracy' (6-17-26)
* People Leak To People Who Are Fun (6-11-26)
* Why Does Australia Produce So Many Great Journalists? (6-11-26)
* Steve Wynn and the Press: Power, Litigation, and the Contest Over Las Vegas (6-3-26)
* Sheldon Adelson and the Journalists (6-3-26)
* The Vigilant Animal: Thinkers Who Reject the Myth of Human Gullibility (6-2-26)
* The Cost of Refusing the Misunderstanding Myth (6-2-26)
* Show Me How It Travels (6-2-26)
* The Norm Explainers (6-2-26)
* Centering Marginalized Voices (6-1-26)
* What would it look like if the Washington Post put its reader first? (6-1-26)
* What would it look like if the Financial Times put its reader first? (6-1-26)
* What It Would Mean for the Los Angeles Times to Put the Reader First? (6-1-26)
* What It Would Mean for The New York Times to Put the Reader First? (6-1-26)
* Why Wembanyama Lives on the Perimeter (5-31-26)
* The Emotional Palettes Of San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco & Sacramento (5-27-26)
* The Administrative Capital: Sacramento Legal Culture (5-27-26)
* San Diego - The Quiet Republic (5-27-26)
* The Quiet Bar: San Diego Legal Culture (5-27-26)
* SF v LA Legal Culture (5-27-26)
* Why Talent Travels Poorly Between San Francisco and Los Angeles (5-27-26)
* San Francisco and Los Angeles as Rival Models of Urban Access (5-27-26)
* Social Cliques in New York, 2026 (5-25-26)
* Social Cliques in San Francisco, 2026 (5-25-26)
* The Rival Courts of Washington (5-25-26)
* The City of Private Rooms (5-25-26)
Category Archives: Personal
Gaining Comfort With Myself, With Others And With God
I’ve long had a hard time looking people (aside from friends and the few I felt comfortable with) in the face. I guess it reflects a fundamental lack of ease I have had with myself, with God and with others. … Continue reading
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Confronting Yourself
I think about myself about 90% of the time. Is this percentage normal for a single person? The happier I am, the less I think about myself, and the unhappier I am, the more I think about myself. I suspect … Continue reading
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My Neediness Is As Big As The Grand Canyon
Just before my 40th birthday, my ex-girlfriend Holly, who was throwing me a party, said to me on the phone about her shopping for my gift, “What do you get the guy who has nothing?” She had looked into the … Continue reading
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The World Frightens Me
I was in shul watching a siddur (prayer book) about to fall off a shelf and I felt physically sick, my stomach wrenched, as I waited for its fall (it didn’t, someone grabbed it). When I watch the same thing … Continue reading
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Converting To Judaism
From a series of my FB posts: The ethnic tribal national peoplehood component of Judaism took me the longest time to get (as compared to the Torah and God components, which seemed self-evident). I remember walking into temple for the … Continue reading
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Random Thoughts
* One of the first Jewish traits I took on (inspired by Dennis Prager) circa 1991 was to finish my conversations with, “Be well.” * New Yorker: “Be prepared, Easterners: L.A. traffic is calm except in the Hollywood and Beverly … Continue reading
Posted in Los Angeles, Personal
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Booted From Starbucks
I was at Starbucks on Pico and Robertson Blvds this morning around 11 a.m., when this old drunk black man came in and started bothering customers. So the female manager came out and asked him to leave. The man got … Continue reading
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My Fear Of Abandonment
As I drive up the 405 towards Mulholland Drive on Super Bowl Sunday Feb. 3, 2013 to the first performance of my one-man play, there is a loud knocking from my engine. I notice that as I reduced the pressure … Continue reading
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Why Hank Sent Me A Penny
Hank emails: Luke: Was to wake you up! You’re a mensch still stuck in your head who thinks too much. You best friends are words, blogs and intellectualism. Learn how to feel. For to feel is the only way to … Continue reading
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My Fear Of Abandonment Comes From My Unwillingness To Grow Up
My fear of abandonment keeps raising its ugly head because I’d rather put my reliance on a relationship, a group, a job, a status, on anything rather than to do the work to become self reliant and self-validating. For example, … Continue reading
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