Author Archives: Diana ben-Aaron

watergate 50 years

On June 17, 1972 (I was finishing second grade) Frank Wills, a 22 year-old night security guard in a Washington office building, ripped off some tape that was holding a door latch open. On his next round he noticed it … Continue reading →

Posted on 3 June 2022 by Diana ben-Aaron
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plague novels: a scent of new-mown hay

While Andromeda Strain is the most bloodless science fiction – the microorganism is a solid hexagonal crystal, no messy fluids here – A Scent of New Mown Hay (John Blackburn, 1959) is a work of horror. Every other chapter ends with people people running screaming, or … Continue reading →

Posted on 2 May 2021 by Diana ben-Aaron
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plague novels: the andromeda strain

In Michael Crichton’s The Andromeda Strain, published in 1969, a microorganism of apparently extraterrestrial origin manifests as a cloud that saturates the air like nerve gas and seems to kill on contact. The best part of the book, the only … Continue reading →

Posted on 1 May 2021 by Diana ben-Aaron
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freeze the bern

(Written for the Language and New Media class blog network) Excited to say – people on the Internet are always excited, aren’t they – that I have contributed to a meme for the first time in my life – that … Continue reading →

Posted on 22 January 2021 by Diana ben-Aaron
Posted in chess, media, meta | Comments Off on freeze the bern

what journalism is

One day on the subway to Boston, a well-meaning friend of mine asked, “How can you waste your fine mind on a trivial pursuit like journalism?” At that moment, I realized why I loved journalism and always would. “It is … Continue reading →

Posted on 6 January 2021 by Diana ben-Aaron
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la lucha continúa

In the ninth month of March, the vaccines arrived, but of course could not be broadly and evenly distributed, just as testing was not broadly and evenly distributed before. This week, new cases in the UK rose from 40,000 a … Continue reading →

Posted on 30 December 2020 by Diana ben-Aaron
Posted in covid, covid.chronicle, holidays | Comments Off on la lucha continúa

faraway lights

“The Nutcracker serves up an idealized Christmas on a platter full of treats that everyone has been promised at one time or another – by our parents or by books and movies and TV specials. Christmas can be a joyful … Continue reading →

Posted on 25 December 2020 by Diana ben-Aaron
Posted in books, covid.chronicle, dance, holidays | Comments Off on faraway lights

due diligence

November Bookcrossing was a Zoom with just a few people. I volunteered to arrange it, then decided I’d rather be at Punctuation, then E arranged it and I joined anyway. It was nice to see BCX people. Obviously no takeaway … Continue reading →

Posted on 14 November 2020 by Diana ben-Aaron
Posted in books, covid.chronicle, holidays | Comments Off on due diligence

a little older, a little more confused

It’s October and we still don’t have a vaccine. We still don’t have a clear and easy testing regime. We still don’t have contact tracing in the UK, just tattered signs with square barcodes posted up in food places for … Continue reading →

Posted on 19 October 2020 by Diana ben-Aaron
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a distant mirror

I, too, could not believe that they would railroad Nixon through until I read a [Walter] Lippmann column a few days before they did, who explained to my satisfaction how it had all been planned for weeks and months ahead; … Continue reading →

Posted on 14 October 2020 by Diana ben-Aaron
Posted in books, food, review | Comments Off on a distant mirror

the 200th of March

Six months into the Covid era. It is now 193 days since we were sent home from campus on 6 March, and 183 days since the UK lockdown took effect on 16 March. We are in a twilight regime where … Continue reading →

Posted on 6 September 2020 by Diana ben-Aaron
Posted in covid, covid.chronicle | Comments Off on the 200th of March

125 days

125 days since the red alert sent us home from work. 115 days since the lockdown order. There have been soft openings in sector after sector over the last six weeks but our public and private lives are by no … Continue reading →

Posted on 15 July 2020 by Diana ben-Aaron
Posted in covid, covid.chronicle | Comments Off on 125 days