KtBlog

Aleppo Is Us
With the recent “What is Aleppo?” gaffe by Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson, the news cycle has long moved on from the child whose image quickly became an icon of that city’s daily disaster. I first saw Omran Daqneesh on the front page of the New York Times, sitting bolt upright in an ambulance. I…

Dear Cruelest Month: Spring Isn’t Arab
Once upon a time we lay in bed trying to imagine what shelling sounded like. We being me and the man I loved. Ah, those early days of my Orientalism and our naïvete. It was winter,2012, and I had started sleeping in the storage space above my kitchen. It was the only place in my…

Happy New Year from KtB!
Herewith, in the spirit of the season, a highly subjective New Year’s Eve countdown of our favorite KtB moments of 2013. 10 Illustrated posts by Communicant Mary Valle. 9 New books by Buddha-killers. 8 hot tips on new Buddha-killing movies by Becky Garrison. 7 Habits of a Highly Effective Philosopher. 6 Pieces of original reporting…

Syrian Refugees in Jordan
When I first traveled to Jordan in 2007 for ten days as part of a contingency of religion writers, I became aware of how Jordan became a place of welcome for refugees. Over 45 percent of Jordan’s population of 6,508,887 consists of people who have immigrated from another country. During the Iraq War, they extended their hospitality…