David Schindel is a retired research scientist living on Maryland's Eastern Shore since 2023. He studied evolution and the fossil record, taught at Yale, worked at the National Science Foundation, and led several international R&D projects for the Smithsonian. David became a weekly Spy columnist in March 2026, writing about the puzzles and challenges we may face. His columns connect them to deeper patterns and structures in our society, our government, or our ways of thinking, usually through a case study drawn from the news. His columns and other essays can be found here.
Each of us swims in an ocean of relationships. Some are formal, written, and signed by the parties involved, and many, perhaps most of them, are unspoken and understood. Many relationships involve imbalances of power, like parents and children, or employers and employees. Sometimes we aren’t aware of some of the relationships we’re in. Those […]