Dana Milbank

Column | We’re about to turn night into day. Is that a good idea? Proposals before the FCC involve mirrors that could bathe entire cities in sunlight and, from SpaceX, a million satellites to serve as data centers.

Goodnight, stars. My latest column, on plans to put a million data centers into orbit and use satellites to turn night into day -- and what this means for us as humans. Gift link. wapo.st/4cdyP0s

Column | These winter images gave readers hope From the mountains of New England to the redwoods of California, these scenes have the power to inspire and console.

I asked readers to share winter photos that stir their emotions. Here are the scenes that give them hope. wapo.st/4s8Fg9N

Column | One path to a happier life: Thinking more about death When we learn to talk about our mortality, our remaining years of life can become more meaningful.

One path to a happier life: thinking about death. My latest column, on a group of women who learned that talking about their mortality has improved their remaining days. Gift link: wapo.st/472Eh2H

Column | I went into phone-free silence. Something disturbing happened. Suddenly shutting off external signals and focusing inward can demand a startling amount of energy.

I went into phone-free silence. What happened was disturbing. My latest column, on our addiction to distraction. Gift link. wapo.st/40aadyg

Column | Good news: We saved the bees. Bad news: We saved the wrong ones. Honeybees have never been in danger of extinction. But scientists are finding that they can accelerate the demise of native bee populations.

Good news: We saved the bees. Bad news: We saved the wrong ones. My latest column, on how our well-intended plans to heal nature sometimes go awry. Gift link: wapo.st/3ZhkdWf

Column | Here’s a proven way to slow aging. Any volunteers? New research shows that you can lengthen your own life by improving someone else’s.

For this week's column, I hung out with members of the rescue squad and other retired super-volunteers. Turns out they are not only enhancing their wellbeing -- they are extending their lives by slowing aging. Gift link. wapo.st/4t9F8rK

Column | Try this 14-day exercise to strengthen hope, even in darkest winter This intervention is straightforward, but its results might surprise you.

Neuroscience is finding that even the smallest amount of time noticing nature -- 10 observations over 14 days -- significantly improves our sense of hope. In this dark winter for our nation and for our planet, we need that. Gift link to my latest column. wapo.st/3NsnT4T

Column | I just set my farm on fire. It was thrilling. This has been my winter of living dangerously, and my experiences have boosted my sense of well-being.

What does not kill us really does make us stronger. My latest @washingtonpost.com column, about how I set my farm on fire and did other questionable things. Now with $4 day pass for non-subscribers. www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

Column | A new approach to living a good life comes from a most unlikely place A group of unexpected guides is asking whether digital life has pulled us off course—and whether there’s a way back

Humans since Socrates have been asking how to live the good life. Now AI is trying to answer the question. My latest column, on a startup by chastened founders of Twitter and Pinterest. Gift link. wapo.st/3Yw7yyk

Tips for finding awe from the National of Gallery of Art Prompts paired with paintings are designed to spur a sense of wonder.

The National Gallery of Art worked with UC Berkeley psychologists to help people find more awe and wonder in their lives. Try some of these prompts. Gift link: wapo.st/49kHrQT

Column | Feeling wonder every day improves our health. Here’s how to do it. Research has established the power of awe. I experienced it myself in a way I never thought I could.

Daily experiences of wonder improve your health -- and it isn't hard to achieve this state. My latest column, from the National Gallery of Art, explains how. Link with $4 day pass offer for nonsubscribers. www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

Column | Why Mormonism may have an answer for our toxic politics Utah Gov. Spencer Cox draws on teachings from his Mormon faith to ‘disagree better.’ Studies show his approach could change public attitudes.

How has the Mormon church produced so many conservative political leaders who defy Trump on matters of decency and compromise? The answer points to a way out of our political crisis. Link to my latest column includes a $4 day-pass offer for nonsubscribers. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Column | A full-body MRI can reveal hidden killers. Do we want to know? Like many emerging technologies, this one can improve our lives, make us miserable or both. Nobody knows yet which it will be.

Would having a full-body MRI cure my medical worries -- or make them a whole lot worse? Here's what I found. Includes a $4 day pass offer for non-subscribers. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Column | Defuse political tension in your family with one simple question This research-backed technique can increase open-mindedness and reduce political polarization, improving conversations at family gatherings and in daily life.

Politics has frozen our brains. Here's a way to reboot. My latest column, with new research on how we can use curiosity to defang political foes and detoxify the discourse. Link includes $4 day-pass offer for non-subscribers. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Column | Scientists discover an ancient landscape – in our own backyard Newly recognized patches of undeveloped grassland are accidental time travelers from a distant past, and they offer answers for our 21st century problems.

Scientists have found 2,000-year-old plant communities that offer answers to the biodiversity crisis and climate change. If you're not a subscriber, use this link for a $4 day pass to read the column. www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

These ancient time travelers have answers to our 21st century problems Newly discovered patches of ancient landscape have somehow managed to survive without being turned into a farm, forest or subdivision.

These ancient time travelers have answers to our 21st century problems. Newly discovered landscapes that are thousands of years old offer remedies to climate change and Earth's shrinking biodiversity. Gift link to my latest @washingtonpost.com column. wapo.st/49Rtfzu

Column | The guy who runs the dump knows the secret to finding meaning at work Willie Shanks has turned a refuse and recycling center into a place where people come to hang out and laugh, even when they don’t have trash to drop off.

At a time when only 31 percent of us feel engaged at work, we could all learn from Willie Shanks. He earns just $38k running the local dump. But he loves his work and has become a local celebrity for turning the dump into a community hub. Gift link. wapo.st/47L8iE0

Column | Forest bathing sounded silly. Then I did it with 8 Harvard doctors. Doctors are looking to a remedy with ancient origins to treat modern stress and burnout. I joined them to see how it works.

I had feared forest bathing might be another goofy wellness fad like Tucker Carlson’s genital tanning. But evidence suggests time in the woods could prevent cancer, fight infection and protect against dementia. I went to investigate. Gift link to my latest @washingtonpost.com column. wapo.st/3Jzxq8x

Column | A 6-year research project found a surprisingly simple route to happiness We are living through highly uncertain times. But a study out of Cornell has identified a happiness hack that can lead you toward a life of purpose.

How can we stay happy in an age gone mad, when it feels as though all is unstable? Results from a new study suggest a practical way to keep ourselves on a meaningful path — a sort of happiness hack for our chaotic times. Gift link to my latest column. wapo.st/4nlKw7c

Column | Boy meets girl meets moth: A many-legged love triangle Their romance began with a shared fondness for counting bugs. Their story offers potential hope for the role that social media and AI could play in our lives.

Boy meets girl meets moth: a many-legged love triangle. My column on the very passionate community of iNaturalist, which is showing that social media and AI can be used to bring people together for a common good rather than tearing us apart.
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Column | Why you should go fishing, even if you think you’d be terrible at it There are ecological and political reasons to try fly-fishing in the rivers of America.

If you care about the future of our planet, one of the best things you can do is go fishing. Better still, take your child or grandchild. My latest column, on how to build a consensus to combat climate change: more "boots on the water." Gift link. wapo.st/4n1Umee

Column | How can we be more human? I asked ChatGPT — and you. In an age in which machines have intellectual capacities superior to our own, we no longer have the market cornered on thinking. Feeling, though, is a different story.

When I asked readers how they "rehumanize," more than 500 responded with deeply personal accounts. They pointed me to the one thing AI will never be able to do. Gift link to my latest column. wapo.st/4pYbpRk

Column | I got nose-to-nose with a mountain lion. It was scary – and magical. Restoring these big cats to their historical range in the United States could help the environment and us.

The animal most in need of "rewilding" is us. I spent some time tracking mountain lions in the Pacific Northwest, getting close to these frightening but magical apex predators. Here's why bringing them back to the East would be good for us. Gift link. wapo.st/3KksTqC

Column | Together, these MAGA fans and liberals fight a common foe: Loneliness A daily meetup at this rural coffee shop has helped create a sense of belonging and connection, even among people who are political opposites.

As America points fingers, these MAGA faithful link arms with liberals. My latest column, on a kaffeeklatsch in rural Virginia that has found an alternative to our toxic politics-- and an antidote to the epidemic of loneliness. Gift link. wapo.st/4gAmDHg

Column | In ugly times, we need to seek beauty. Here’s how to find it. The first installment of a new weekly column about reclaiming our humanity, restoring our connections and reviving our sense of awe.

In ugly times, we need to seek beauty in tiny things. The first of my new column on how we rehumanize focuses on the sublime beauty in grass flowers and other ordinary things -- as long as we pause to look. Gift link. wapo.st/4pm7wVU

Opinion | We are losing our humanity. I am searching for an antidote. The challenge of our time is to recover what we have lost: in nature, and in our communities.

We are losing our humanity. I am searching for an antidote -- and I need your help. My column about my new @washingtonpost.com column. Gift link. wapo.st/472i9Gz

My @washingtonpost.com column will be moving later this summer to Futures, a new Post section devoted to grappling with the forces shaping the 21st century.

Opinion | On a dark night in the forest, I met the goddess of youth With firefly scientists, I watched a fireworks show more intricate than any human-made pyrotechnics.

My night in the forest with the Heebie-Jeebie, the Big Dipper, the July Comet, the Spring 4-Flasher, the Creekside Tree Blinker and other fireflies. Insects could hold the secret to human survival -- if we allow them to survive. Gift link to my latest column:
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Opinion | The last gasp of small-government conservatism As the GOP budget bill rushed toward passage, one so-called principled objector after another lost their nerve.

This wasn’t just another routine cave-in by conservatives. This was probably the last chance to make a dent in the trajectory of the federal government’s finances — and they surrendered utterly. Gift link to my latest column. wapo.st/4kpBmFc

Opinion | Trump’s Nobel Peace Prize odds are bombing Has there ever been a more belligerent peacemaker than the American president?

Oslo: Give Trump the %@$&)! Nobel Peace Prize already — or he’s sending the B-2s. Gift link to my latest @postopinions.bsky.social column. wapo.st/4ekP76G