Update 17 Dec 2025: Times have changed, and I have realised that this article needs a short framing intro. Climate science is in trouble. Funding is being cut. Information is disappearing. To draw a little attention to this and other issues, I returned to a format I first introduced in 2003: a darkly humorous "Letter … Continue reading Dear Santa Claus: So Sorry About the North Pole (2025 edition)
Author: Alan AtKisson
A song of melancholy and last-chance hope: Why I wrote “The Last Dice”
In September 2011, I found myself unexpectedly wandering the streets of Istanbul. I say “unexpectedly” because there was revolution in Syria, a growing social uprising that would eventually ignite an all-consuming civil war. Security concerns had made going back to the city of Aleppo, which is where I had expected to be, impossible. Click to … Continue reading A song of melancholy and last-chance hope: Why I wrote “The Last Dice”
I asked ChatGPT to analyse the new US National Security Strategy
After reading the new National Security Strategy of the United States of America, recently released by the White House, I thought, "I used to advise US military bases on their sustainability programs. This new strategy seems to be a major change in direction, and it has enormous implications for sustainability and sustainable development work, globally. … Continue reading I asked ChatGPT to analyse the new US National Security Strategy
Why I wrote “American Troubadour” — and why the song is more relevant than ever
If you want to listen first and then read the article, go to Spotify, YouTube, or Apple Music (and other services). Or listen free at this website: AmericanTroubadour.com. Every time I tried to tell you the words just came out wrong, so I’ll have to say “I love you” in a song. — Jim Croce, … Continue reading Why I wrote “American Troubadour” — and why the song is more relevant than ever
Could learning to talk with whales change the world?
Stunning, world-changing news has been trying to click and trill its way through the chaotic cloud of media that serves as humanity’s proxy for global collective consciousness. Did you miss it? Don’t worry, I will fill you in. Mother and baby sperm whale. Whale babies babble, just like human babies, until their codas start settling … Continue reading Could learning to talk with whales change the world?
I got sick and rediscovered Paul Simon
Fever, chills, and all the frills – that’s what it took to get me to watch the two-part documentary “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon” (highly recommended). My own restless dreams were of the feverish variety, lacking any sense or plot. Watching this masterful history of a phenomenally gifted songwriter, during short moments … Continue reading I got sick and rediscovered Paul Simon
An editorial request to Bill Gates: please do a rewrite
I read carefully the recent Bill Gates memo, “Three Tough Truths about Climate Change” (28 Oct 2025), which caused a lot of commotion on social media. It was worth a close read, and I am still thinking about it, as well as tracking the media reactions, which have often been, in my view, exaggerated. Certain … Continue reading An editorial request to Bill Gates: please do a rewrite
The Plum Tree – A True Story about the Power of Optimism
These plums, and this marmalade, are proof of the power of optimism to create change. Even when things look bleak. Now with a new PS about overcoming perceived failure. (Read on below the image >>) A few years ago, our plum tree got infected with the dreaded “brown rot”. I was too busy with work … Continue reading The Plum Tree – A True Story about the Power of Optimism
Baltic Futures = Europe’s Future
Consider the Baltic Sea: Brackish. Beautiful. Highly polluted. Linking (or dividing) the following countries: Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark – and Russia. It might irritate certain EU member states, not mentioned above, both current and former, to learn that for journalist Oliver Moody, Berlin bureau chief for The Times of London, the … Continue reading Baltic Futures = Europe’s Future
Loyalties: A framework for how I intend to engage in the public sphere
Towards the end of this article, I present a list of my fundamental loyalties, defined as the intellectual commitments guiding my participation, writing and speech in the public sphere. Why am I doing that? To model transparency. To be clear, both with myself and with others, about what I intend to do, before I start … Continue reading Loyalties: A framework for how I intend to engage in the public sphere
Alan AtKisson 