Pluralistic modern Turkey, a land of millennia-old empire capitals

(Roy) Today, I’m sharing my thoughts and feelings on voting, reflections on our US democracy informed by our conversations with Turkish people over the last month, and a longer view from being in a place at the center of so much recorded history.

Gratitude for voting overseas this midterm election

Maureen and I have been reviewing our ballot choices for the US midterm election on November 8. This election, I feel deeply grateful that I can vote and that my vote will be counted. When we prepared to travel outside the US for a year, we discovered all sorts of things that need some extra logistical effort: receiving physical mail, health insurance, mobile phones, the clothes in my wardrobe this morning.