There and Back Again

While this substack has been quiet lately, I sure have a lot to say. After living overseas on sabbatical in Australia - writing, reading, interviewing, and analyzing data - I’ve just arrived back in the U.S.

The past 9 months have been a whirlwind, but in the time I was away, I completed two manuscripts, with another coming. And that’s only the beginning.

In hours and hours and hours of interviews with current and former congressional staffers who served in senior positions over the last 50 years, I also have a lot of intriguing commentary, anecdotes, and perspectives that don’t fit neatly into the articles I’ve written.

Some stories seem quite timely in 2023. For example, staff tend to know a bit about the hidden health status of aging members of Congress. There were accounts of grandstanding that doesn’t reflect what happens once the cameras go off. And observations about how social media restricts policy opportunities in ways we often don’t recognize. And on. And on. And on.

For now, I’m still traveling. And it will take some time to settle back into Michigan. But you can bet there’s a lot more to come…