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Why I’ve Stayed in Chicago for 20 Years

It’s not easy or pretty, but life isn’t without challenge anywhere else in America either. We stay because so many things about this place make us care enough to stay. And that’s something I think outside observers always miss about Chicago.

“I Bet Your Blog Becomes All About Autism”

Michael Thaddeus Doyle at Parque Eduardo VII in Lisbon Portugal in 1999

I thought coming out only happened once. Then 2020 proved me wrong. Hi, I’m Michael. And I’m autistic.

Passing on Passover: The Pandemic Edition

On why we’re choosing not to observe Pesach during the COVID-19 crisis.

And Not Another Shit Was Given That Day

The difference between me and a native Chicagoan? I always say what others only dare to think.

Hebreo Rizado

Sometimes when you’re ‘Jewish and’ you just have to lead with the ‘and.’ I’m a Hispanic Jew who’s taking off his kippah.

The Shit That Weighs You Down

I may have started my forties yearning for my father, but I’m ending them leaving him behind.

Fear No (One Else’s) Holiday

If Halloween makes you fear for your Judaism, your problem isn’t Halloween.

The Death and Life of My Planning Career

What do you do when you want to pivot back to what you used to do, that you never thought you’d do again?

E Pluribus Pluribus

When we stop respecting our shared Americanness, we have no respect left for anything else.

Token Branding

The worst thing about inclusion on the left is exclusion on the left. Identity politics doesn’t work when you aim it at each other.