Michael O’Donnell is a lawyer in the Chicago area. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Atlantic.
Ready to Blow
In 1983, a nuclear war game almost turned real. Have we learned our lesson?
Russia’s Founding Father
A new, definitive biography of Mikhail Gorbachev tells the story of the man most responsible for ending the Cold War.
The Worst Job in the World
The most successful chiefs of staff have known not only how to take charge but also when to leave.
Shoot the Hippies
Kent State’s lessons in the age of Donald Trump.
It Will Be Easy to Replace Antonin Scalia
Antonin Scalia’s unexpected death came as a shock to me—and not just because I had plans until recently to go hiking this weekend in Big Bend, Texas, where the justice died. Scalia has been a fixture on the Supreme Court for my entire legal career, and he didn’t seem to be going anywhere. During Barack… Read more »
