I have a mantra that I often spout in moments like these, moments when finding clarity, finding space to think, can be hard. Listen to athletes for a change.

By all accounts, Novak Djokovic was on his way home. Or at least thinking about it, what time the plane would leave, is there any food in the fridge.

The eyes may be the window to the soul, but the mouth may be the window to your body.

The issues are too large to address in a brief commentary but it’s important to see the scope of the problem.

I’m a part of a team that is taking public data for the City of Albany, analyzing it, and turning the analysis into stories that inform our community. We publish this analysis and stories on the website, Albany Data Stories. These data-driven stories address housing, budgets, crime, pedestrian safety and more.

Who’re you gonna trust? That’s a tough question these days. For a lot of Americans, the answer seems to be, “nobody.” And that’s pretty sad. It’s something we need to think about.

Last week, Governor Hochul unveiled her $260 billion budget plan for the upcoming fiscal year, which starts on April 1.The governor’s plan contains measures that she had discussed in her State of the State address given a week earlier.

The Williamstown Theatre Festival announced it is going from annual productions to a biennial schedule.

The chances of me winning the Nobel Peace Prize are slim and diminishing by the day. It would be hard to point to anything I’ve done to promote global harmony. I’m not proud of myself. Yet, who knows?

This is an expanded version of my 300th commentary over WAMC-FM (My first one aired back in 2005).In this version I revisit an issue that I introduced in one of my very first presentations --- the independence of the U.S. Central Bank, the Federal Reserve System or Fed for short.