This month’s Dispatch opens with a milestone I’ve been eager to share: the latest draft cover for my new book, a visual doorway into the stories and reckonings that shaped it. Culture Watch will highlight Paul White’s powerful SoftPower FulStories interview, where people too often forgotten take center stage; Paul Theroux’s Sir Vidia’s Shadow, a study in literary friendship and fracture, is my book review; and then I’ll highlight the haunting new series House of Spirits. I’ll close with a homily for my friend and fellow staffer Esther, whose passing reminds me why stories — and the people who carry them — matter. And as always, […]