Jeannette Cooperman
@jcooperman.bsky.social
Essayist, reporter, long-ago philosophy major still trying to figure out the world
These are the people we don't want here anymore. commonreader.wustl.edu/immigration/
Boris the Armenian Woodworker - Common Reader
Neighbors who had always been kind, with food and celebrations shared, went cold overnight, then flamed into a murderous rage.
commonreader.wustl.edu
December 18, 2025 at 8:45 PM
These are the people we don't want here anymore. commonreader.wustl.edu/immigration/
You know the world's turned upside down when young people voice more prejudice than their elders. (AUDIO 9m) commonreader.wustl.edu/antisemitism/
The Prejudice Young People Have Made Their Own - Common Reader
People worried sick about bigotry used to murmur, “Our hope is the young people.” Now the opposite is true.
commonreader.wustl.edu
December 16, 2025 at 2:27 PM
You know the world's turned upside down when young people voice more prejudice than their elders. (AUDIO 9m) commonreader.wustl.edu/antisemitism/
Why did 60 Minutes cut off the Germany arming itself segment so abruptly? I know I sound paranoid….
December 15, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Why did 60 Minutes cut off the Germany arming itself segment so abruptly? I know I sound paranoid….
Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Just make sure they've never written an honest word on their social media. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
U.S. plans to ask visitors to disclose 5 years of social media history
The proposal would affect travelers from countries on the visa waiver program, including Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Israel, Japan and South Korea.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 11, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Just make sure they've never written an honest word on their social media. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
When did you last lift your voice? (AUDIO 6m) commonreader.wustl.edu/music/
Keep Singing - Common Reader
Making sounds in unison tells the world we are united; it reminds us of what we share, not where we differ. It also releases enough endorphins to smooth over any doubts.
commonreader.wustl.edu
December 11, 2025 at 4:26 PM
When did you last lift your voice? (AUDIO 6m) commonreader.wustl.edu/music/
Study too much, and you can miss the point. (AUDIO 8m) commonreader.wustl.edu/fredrik-back...
Fredrik Backman Foils the Critics (and Me) - Common Reader
He understands “the impossible human experience of just trying to get through the day with everyone you love being somewhat OK at the end of it.”
commonreader.wustl.edu
December 9, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Study too much, and you can miss the point. (AUDIO 8m) commonreader.wustl.edu/fredrik-back...
When you have a minute, would love your feedback on The Common Reader website's redesign. Hot in the Kitchen did an amazing job, and now we have a grace period where we can make changes. Your ideas matter a great deal to us; you are, after all, the point of all this! commonreader.wustl.edu
December 8, 2025 at 6:33 PM
When you have a minute, would love your feedback on The Common Reader website's redesign. Hot in the Kitchen did an amazing job, and now we have a grace period where we can make changes. Your ideas matter a great deal to us; you are, after all, the point of all this! commonreader.wustl.edu
"Part of Arendt’s point was that courage should have been irrelevant. A free country is one in which people can criticize their government without fear of government retaliation."
Hannah Arendt Is Not Your Icon
www.nytimes.com
December 8, 2025 at 3:32 PM
"Part of Arendt’s point was that courage should have been irrelevant. A free country is one in which people can criticize their government without fear of government retaliation."
So embarrassing. I took the quiz. (AUDIO 8m) commonreader.wustl.edu/has-style-an...
Has Style Any Substance? - Common Reader
Real style is inimitable. It reveals us. I wonder, can it also change us?
commonreader.wustl.edu
December 2, 2025 at 3:31 PM
So embarrassing. I took the quiz. (AUDIO 8m) commonreader.wustl.edu/has-style-an...
Can rewilding work? It kind of has to, right?
commonreader.wustl.edu/the-radical-...
commonreader.wustl.edu/the-radical-...
The Call of the Wild - Common Reader
More than ten thousand species are now critically endangered. Humans have clear-cut forests, paved grassland, overharvested, overfished, and overhunted. Much of the existing ground is being strangled ...
commonreader.wustl.edu
November 29, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Can rewilding work? It kind of has to, right?
commonreader.wustl.edu/the-radical-...
commonreader.wustl.edu/the-radical-...
So if the turkey burns or your team loses and you want a little company in your misery... (AUDIO 8m) commonreader.wustl.edu/record-an-au...
Record an Audiobook? It Sounded So Easy.... - Common Reader
There is one blissfully egocentric, thrilling moment: I am introduced as “the talent.” Granted, I ruin the moment by snorting and warning the sound studio team that I have never recorded anything befo...
commonreader.wustl.edu
November 27, 2025 at 8:53 PM
So if the turkey burns or your team loses and you want a little company in your misery... (AUDIO 8m) commonreader.wustl.edu/record-an-au...
Such a long, nonsensical, knock-down-drag-out fight we (or rather, i) have had.... (AUDIO 10m) commonreader.wustl.edu/fighting-wit...
Fighting with the Buddha - Common Reader
Why would I not desire a good Camembert, or a sweater soft as a lamb?
commonreader.wustl.edu
November 25, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Such a long, nonsensical, knock-down-drag-out fight we (or rather, i) have had.... (AUDIO 10m) commonreader.wustl.edu/fighting-wit...
Can we be sure the Epstein files are intact? Asking seriously
November 20, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Can we be sure the Epstein files are intact? Asking seriously
We are so docile, so cheerful, in our tech-driven misery. (AUDIO 9m) commonreader.wustl.edu/airport-nigh...
Airport Nightmare, and the Lesson Learned - Common Reader
So many everyday experiences are increasingly costly or exasperating or nightmarish, and we just accept the stress as inevitable....
commonreader.wustl.edu
November 19, 2025 at 2:56 PM
We are so docile, so cheerful, in our tech-driven misery. (AUDIO 9m) commonreader.wustl.edu/airport-nigh...
The most mysterious element--invisible, it both destroys us and keeps us alive. commonreader.wustl.edu/c/cast-your-...
Cast Your Fate to the Wind - Common Reader
Wind itself can drive you crazy. Sometimes there is a hysteria to it, a shrill tirade that goes on for days, relentless, unappeasable. Sometimes it is angry, as though Zeus sucked in his breath to roa...
commonreader.wustl.edu
November 1, 2025 at 5:06 PM
The most mysterious element--invisible, it both destroys us and keeps us alive. commonreader.wustl.edu/c/cast-your-...
This is all so ugly. I do not want to be this person. (AUDIO 7m) commonreader.wustl.edu/the-lie-i-te...
The Lie I Tell Myself Daily - Common Reader
It is the most underrated virtue in this culture....
commonreader.wustl.edu
October 30, 2025 at 4:32 PM
This is all so ugly. I do not want to be this person. (AUDIO 7m) commonreader.wustl.edu/the-lie-i-te...
Do you trust gut feelings? Would you call them precognition? (AUDIO 9m) commonreader.wustl.edu/dig-out-your...
Dig Out Your Crystal Ball - Common Reader
My friend is a little witchy, a little woowoo. She gets “feelings” before something happens.... Does precognition exist?
commonreader.wustl.edu
October 28, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Do you trust gut feelings? Would you call them precognition? (AUDIO 9m) commonreader.wustl.edu/dig-out-your...
Spontaneous joy? Let's commodify it! (AUDIO 8m) commonreader.wustl.edu/are-flash-mo...
Are Flash Mobs Over or Just Ruined? - Common Reader
I fall for these every time. DId we really have to commodify spontaneous joy?
commonreader.wustl.edu
October 23, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Spontaneous joy? Let's commodify it! (AUDIO 8m) commonreader.wustl.edu/are-flash-mo...
The first Anselm Kiefer exhibition in the U.S. in 20 years, and he creates five works, each three stories high, just for the Saint Louis Art Museum's new exhibit. Which is free to all, every day, because it matters that much. (AUDIO 13m) commonreader.wustl.edu/anselm-kiefe...
Anselm Kiefer: Becoming the Sea - Common Reader
Anselm Kiefer begged SLAM not to dust, fuss, or try to explain his work. Then he handed them five new canvases created just for this extraordinary exhibition
commonreader.wustl.edu
October 21, 2025 at 3:00 PM
The first Anselm Kiefer exhibition in the U.S. in 20 years, and he creates five works, each three stories high, just for the Saint Louis Art Museum's new exhibit. Which is free to all, every day, because it matters that much. (AUDIO 13m) commonreader.wustl.edu/anselm-kiefe...
I loved all those nurse books as a kid...why didn't they rub off? (AUDIO 9m) commonreader.wustl.edu/i-was-not-cu...
I Was Not Cut Out for Caregiving - Common Reader
How could I love those nursing books as a girl, yet recoil as a grown-up?
commonreader.wustl.edu
October 16, 2025 at 1:04 PM
I loved all those nurse books as a kid...why didn't they rub off? (AUDIO 9m) commonreader.wustl.edu/i-was-not-cu...
How do you savor the fun you once had without resenting its loss? (AUDIO 6m) commonreader.wustl.edu/tennis-anyon...
Tennis, Anyone? Or Is It Too Late? - Common Reader
The answer is grief's own riddle.
commonreader.wustl.edu
October 14, 2025 at 1:41 PM
How do you savor the fun you once had without resenting its loss? (AUDIO 6m) commonreader.wustl.edu/tennis-anyon...
Like a horde of zombies coming over the hill, the dead are returning. (AUDIO 11m) commonreader.wustl.edu/my-mother-th...
My Mother the Griefbot - Common Reader
Do we want to bring our loved ones back?
commonreader.wustl.edu
October 10, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Like a horde of zombies coming over the hill, the dead are returning. (AUDIO 11m) commonreader.wustl.edu/my-mother-th...
What AI might conclude about your vocabulary (AUDIO 7m) commonreader.wustl.edu/your-therapi...
Your Therapist Could Use Some Help - Common Reader
And our choice of words reveals us.
commonreader.wustl.edu
October 7, 2025 at 2:44 PM
What AI might conclude about your vocabulary (AUDIO 7m) commonreader.wustl.edu/your-therapi...
Stop prioritizing. (AUDIO 8m) commonreader.wustl.edu/the-psycholo...
The Psychological Beatitudes - Common Reader
Stop prioritizing.
commonreader.wustl.edu
October 2, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Stop prioritizing. (AUDIO 8m) commonreader.wustl.edu/the-psycholo...
Weirdly, psilocybin might be the only thing the right and left agree on. We are entering a new psychedelic age. commonreader.wustl.edu/c/how-to-mee...
How to Meet the Girl with Kaleidoscope Eyes - Common Reader
Reverence, serenity, and compassion, courtesy of a mushroom? Well, what would be wrong with that? Humans are a broken species. Negative emotions wired into us for survival have run amok in times we ca...
commonreader.wustl.edu
October 1, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Weirdly, psilocybin might be the only thing the right and left agree on. We are entering a new psychedelic age. commonreader.wustl.edu/c/how-to-mee...