Columns

This image from CCTV video released by Saudi Arabia's Media Ministry shows passengers taking cover as flames and smoke fill part of King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, during what authorities described as a strike at the airport on Oct. 10, 2026. (Saudi Media Ministry via AP)

Daniel DePetris: Resumption of war between Houthis and Saudis is bad timing for Donald Trump

By Daniel DePetris

October 12, 2026 at 1:27 p.m.

The attacks in Saudi Arabia come when Donald Trump is in a standoff over the...

Attorneys for Christa Pike hold a news conference after a judge ruled the Tennessee Department of Corrections must preserve all evidence related to the failed execution of Pike, on Oct. 7, 2026, in Nashville, Tennessee. (George Walker IV/AP)

Clarence Page: A botched execution shakes our death penalty presumptions

By Clarence Page

October 12, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

The botched execution of Christa Pike offers a gross illustration of the cruelty that capital...

Chicago school board president candidates Jessica Biggs, Hilario Dominguez and Victor Henderson participate in a forum at the Copernicus Center on Sept. 29, 2026. (Chris Sweda/baiduhai)

David Greising: The race for Chicago school board president is about ideas — and character

By David Greising

October 10, 2026 at 10:01 a.m.

It will take savvy strategic thinking, backed by the character needed for leadership, to make...

A resident holds Newport menthol cigarettes outside his building in Chicago's Dearborn Homes public housing development in 2018.

Clarence Page: A ban on menthol cigarettes? It’s about time.

By Clarence Page

April 29, 2022 at 4:11 p.m.

The Food and Drug Administration's new plan to ban sales of menthol-flavored cigarettes reminded me,...

Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, speaks during the Satellite 2020 conference in Washington on March 9, 2020. Musk has reached an agreement to buy Twitter.

Clarence Page: Elon Musk’s next surprise? ‘Free speech’ has limits.

By Clarence Page

April 26, 2022 at 5:16 p.m.

Although it may take several months for Elon Musk to complete his purchase of Twitter,...

Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, center, at the state Capitol in Lansing before the State of the State address on Jan. 29, 2020.

Clarence Page: How to push back against bully politics

By Clarence Page

April 22, 2022 at 6:05 p.m.

As I have seen political discourse degrade into a verbal form of gladiator death match,...

A ghost gun is displayed before the start of an event about gun violence in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, D.C. on April 11, 2022. Biden announced a new firearm regulation aimed at reining in ghost guns, untraceable, unregulated weapons made from kits.

Clarence Page: What the right doesn’t get about ‘ghost guns’

By Clarence Page

April 19, 2022 at 5:24 p.m.

An often-repeated story about W.C. Fields holds that as he approached the end of his...

President Joe Biden speaks at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro on April 14, 2022.

Clarence Page: Democrats are still wrestling with their trickiest issue: Message control

By Clarence Page

April 15, 2022 at 4:57 p.m.

You know a political party is in trouble when its leading voices turn on each...

Column: The parents of that screaming toddler on your plane? They need this vacation as much as you do, believe me.

By Heidi Stevens

June 7, 2024 at 11:51 a.m.

If you've traveled with young kids, you know the look. It's a mixture of contempt...

Elon Musk speaks at the Satellite Conference and Exhibition on March 9, 2020, in Washington.

Clarence Page: Elon Musk makes his move on Twitter — but toward what?

By Clarence Page

April 12, 2022 at 4:57 p.m.

First he said he would, then he didn't. Less than a week after the announcement...

Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson listens to Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 21, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington.

Clarence Page: What is a woman, Judge Jackson? We’ll see you in court

By Clarence Page

April 8, 2022 at 5:24 p.m.

Of all the questions that ranged from wise to wacky during Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's...

Column: They kept their pain a secret from their friends — until they didn’t. How a daughter’s crisis led one mom to help all of us get better at showing up.

By Heidi Stevens

June 7, 2024 at 11:51 a.m.

I met two friends for dinner a few nights ago and we immediately dispensed with...

Louis C.K. at Madison Square Garden in New York in 2015.

Clarence Page: Louis C.K. cancels his cancellation, is it OK to laugh now?

By Clarence Page

April 5, 2022 at 4:32 p.m.

Compared to the instant shock of watching Will Smith slap Chris Rock at the Academy...

Columnists