James Fallows

1 week ago | fallows.substack.com | James Fallows

A century ago, the Harvard football team was a national powerhouse and even won the Rose Bowl in 1920. As the Trump administration is discovering, this 389-year-old institution can be tougher than it looks. (1907 Edward Penfield illustration, via Getty Images.) This post is about the language of civic struggle in our times. Last week, while outside the country, in Greenland (about which more, later), I came across a rapid-fire, three-part sequence of documents, which together tell a revealing tale.

2 weeks ago | thefp.com | James Fallows

Here are quick answers to questions I keep receiving about air travel. To start with the most basic on today’s 10-question list:If the worry is about safety, no. Anything can happen, but anything can happen each time you get out of bed. If the worry is about delays, or a tight connection, or close timing for a big event, yes. Make other plans. United Airlines has already substantially cut back its schedule for its Newark hub. Use it as an example.

3 weeks ago | fallows.substack.com | James Fallows

An obviously-NOT-real generated-AI image to convey the idea of “a slower but safer approach to air travel.”Here are quick answers to questions I keep receiving about air travel. This follows a post last week and then a Substack Live podcast I did with Ryan Lizza on how travelers should think about air safety. To start with the most basic on today’s ten-question list:-If the worry is about safety, No. Anything can happen, but anything can happen each time you get out of bed.

1 month ago | telos.news | Ryan Lizza |James Fallows

, and many others for tuning into my live video withThis conversation will tell you everything you need to know about what’s going on with aviation safety right now—and how much the Trump administration is to blame. For more, check out Fallows’s new piece on the subject: “Pay Attention to What Happened in Newark.”

1 month ago | fallows.substack.com | James Fallows

Man vs. airplane, 1959 edition. (Getty images.)This post is a guide to following aviation-mishap news. Some of the events matter much more than others. Reports on every kind of “trouble in the skies” tend to mush together, because of their shared inherent drama. A huge rocket ship blows up; a private plane plows into a neighborhood; a passenger-jet engine catches fire. They all command attention. Some eventually prove to be just bad luck, or fate. One US aircraft carrier, the Harry S.