Civic Essays
What We Owe the Next Generation
There is a kind of conversation that has gone out of fashion in this country, and we are paying for its absence. It is the conversation older people used to [...]
The Havok Journal | Military & Veteran News, Commentary, Culture
- Before the Gun Appears September 3, 2026The call came in as an individual carrying a firearm inside an apartment building. Nothing had happened yet. No shots fired. No foot pursuit. No fight. I was not running upstairs or wrestling with anyone. From the outside, and especially watching the body camera afterward, the call did not look particularly dramatic. We were outside […]Sergeant Ayman Kafel, MSC
- Your Doctor Says Yes and a Spreadsheet Says Prove It September 3, 2026There was a charming period in human history when getting sick involved finding a doctor. America improved this primitive arrangement by adding a third party whose medical contribution is asking whether you’ve considered remaining sick. Welcome to prior authorization, the health insurance ritual where your physician examines you, diagnoses you, recommends treatment, and then somebody […]Tammy Pondsmith
- The Healer’s Arsenal September 3, 2026Where Traditional Healing Practices and Contemporary Approaches to Healing Converge and Where They Do Not By Emily Ireland Modern medicine has given us extraordinary tools for treating illness, among them pharmaceuticals developed through precise understandings of chemistry and biology. Yet human well-being has never depended upon medication alone. Across cultures and centuries, people have turned […]Special Guest
- The Five-Year Stranger: The Part of a Military Career Nobody Warns You About September 2, 2026There is a concept that has been making the rounds online lately called the “Five-Year Stranger Theory.” It is not an established psychological theory, nor is it something you’ll find in an academic textbook. It is more of a modern observation about the way life works. The idea is simple: five years from now, most […]Charles Faint
- Try to Set the Sea on Fire September 2, 2026By Scott Staron “Does anyone want to know why I got into this line of work?” I looked out at my daughter’s class of fifth graders. No takers. “I was stationed on a Navy ship and one time I set the ocean on fire.” Now I had their attention. Today was career day at school […]Special Guest
