“The Shining” (book 1977, film 1980) is about a white-knuckle alcoholic’s descent into his disease and its effects on his mind, career and family. I didn’t learn this until recently. I just thought it was about how scary it is to be married to a writer. I moved from L.A. to New York City three […]
Ben Bragdon
Staff Writer
Ben Bragdon is managing editor of the Sun Journal. Prior to that, he was deputy managing editor for news at the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel. Ben was previously editorial page editor for those newspapers and Central Maine Sunday for more than 10 years. Before that, he was managing editor for weekly newspapers at Current Publishing in Westbrook. He began his career as a reporter at the Piscataquis Observer in Dover-Foxcroft and editor at the Moosehead Messenger in Greenville. He has a bachelor’s degree in history from Boston University.
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Commentary: Trump’s Ukraine policy in 2025 will show if he is a winner or a loser
As Russia viciously bombed Ukrainian cities over Christmas and shot down an Azeri airliner with antiaircraft fire, it was hard to ignore the message from Moscow. A new foreign policy era has begun even before Donald Trump takes office. It will be quickly defined by how the president-elect deals with Moscow’s war on Ukraine. The […]
advertisement
Posted inEditorials, Opinion
View from Away: Some honesty (at last) about Biden’s decline would help Democrats move on
With less than a month left now in Joe Biden’s presidency, it might seem pointless to discuss yet again the president’s cognitive fitness for office. But there are two reasons that discussion shouldn’t yet be over: One, there are serious questions right now about who is actually making decisions in the White House — questions […]
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Commentary: How our words about the Israel-Hamas war can add to hostilities — or help on a path to peace
The language people use to talk about the Israel-Hamas war has power: It can contribute to misunderstanding and alienation, but it can also bring about appreciation for concepts that can seem impossible during this kind of conflict, such as peace. I was born to a Palestinian Arab father and an Israeli Jewish mother — a […]
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Commentary: Sure, people made fun of Jimmy Carter. I was lucky to have Jimmy Carter make fun of me
Jimmy Carter, who died Sunday, is the first presidential candidate I remember publicly expressing an opinion of. As it turned out, Carter would also be the first (and only) president to publicly express an opinion of me. During Carter’s presidency he was criticized and lampooned, but during his life he was more often hailed for […]
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Commentary: History gets Jimmy Carter wrong, both underrated and overrated
In the lives of public figures a tale often takes hold and that narrative becomes their story. In the case of Jimmy Carter, it goes like this: A humble peanut farmer and former Georgia governor defies extraordinary odds and wins the White House, through a combination of virtue, decency and a post-Watergate political cleansing. Over […]
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Commentary: Listening in a time of disinformation
The very fabric of truth is unraveling at an alarming rate. Howard Thurman’s wisdom about listening for the sound of the genuine is not just relevant but urgent. In the face of the escalating crisis of disinformation, distortion and the unsettling normalization of immoral and unethical practices, particularly in electoral politics and executive leadership, the […]
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Commentary: The election couldn’t solve our crisis of belief. Here’s what can
The stark divisions surrounding the recent presidential election are still with us, and will be for some time. The reason is clear: We have a crisis of belief in this country that goes much deeper than any single election. So many people, especially young people, have lost faith in America. We have lost belief in […]
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Commentary: Our enduring love of Ernest Shackleton exposes false ideas of leadership
It seems Ernest Shackleton’s legend has set sail again, this time courtesy of National Geographic and Disney+, which just released a new documentary on the discovery of the famed Anglo Irish explorer’s lost ship. Shackleton is best known for the trials of his ill-fated expedition to Antarctica, which set off in summer 1914 and saw […]
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Scholars Strategy Network: Trump’s electoral victory no landslide
The new president has no mandate, but that doesn’t mean his impact won’t be felt.