Dear Mathematician, Please Save Me. — I think I’m wrong about something. With your help, maybe I can understand my error without spending a ton of time and money on a math degree or enduring an egotistical lecture about how amateurs ought to stay in their place. Georg Cantor proved the set of whole numbers is…

Death in Screwtape’s Multiverse — Type R evolution sucks. For every baby sea turtle that reaches old age, many hundreds die a miserable death. Cockroach toddlers, tadpoles, and cute little guppies face lousy odds too. Rats and rabbits die young in droves. Humans follow a K strategy. We pamper our young. Most live to breeding…

A Parable — The space habitat of Junkipia, an O’Neill cylinder, rotated in ancient majesty on its thousandth birthday. The three peoples of the land, pious congregations long in conflict, held muted celebrations in their separate enclaves. One old fellow by the name of Erthenlaust followed a narrow dirt path away from his…

A Nonfictional Account of Love, Fear, and Politics — The owner of a car dealership held a “come-to-Jesus meeting.” He told employees to stop spreading their negative opinions about minorities, foreigners, and gays out loud in the showroom. His threats worked. Fear worked. The guys didn’t want to lose their jobs. They stopped. The owner, no Liberal by a…

Future Spokesman for American Policing in the End Times — Now had the tables been turned — and Joe, this’ll get me in trouble — had the tables been turned and President Trump won the election, and those were tens of thousands of Black Lives Matter and Antifa protesters, I might have been a little concerned. — Senator Ron Johnson …

Thank You for the Photo and the Kind Words. — I’m calling to thank you For the smile in your photo, The candor in your note, The tang in your box of tarts, And the hard crunch of a nutcracker You sent to replace the one I lost. In the back of my mind, As we converse From opposite shores of an…