June 2026
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Podcast Episode: The Burden We Call Love
Note: The underlying article can be found at https://ajprokop.com/2026/06/29/the-burden-we-call-love/ Pip: There’s a phrase most of us have said at least once — “I don’t want to be a burden” — delivered with the quiet confidence of someone who has never actually thought it through. Mara: Andrew Prokop has been thinking it through. Today we’re covering… Continue reading
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The Burden We Call Love
The burden which is well borne becomes light. Ovid At a recent gathering with a few male friends, our freewheeling conversation turned towards aging and caring for those who are no longer able to look after themselves. As is common, and somewhat expected with a group of white Americans, someone almost immediately said, “I don’t… Continue reading
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Podcast Episode: Where do the Children Play
Note: The underlying article can be found at Where do the Children Play. Pip: There’s a site called Can You Hear Me Now, which is either a meditation on human connection or a very long complaint about cell service — and today, Andrew Prokop makes the case that it’s definitely the former. Mara: Andrew Prokop’s latest… Continue reading
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Where do the Children Play
It is right that he too should have his little chronicle, his memories, his reason, and be able to recognize the good in the bad, the bad in the worst, and so grow gently old down all the unchanging days, and die one day like any other day, only shorter. Samuel Beckett As a grandfather… Continue reading
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Podcast Episode: Free Range Retirement
Note: The underlying article can be found at Free Range Retirement. Pip: There’s a quote that opens the post we’re covering today: “The trouble with retirement is that you never get a day off.” Which, honestly, sounds less like a warning and more like a sales pitch. Mara: Andrew Prokop is two years into retirement… Continue reading
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Free Range Retirement
The trouble with retirement is that you never get a day off. Abe Lemons I love a good coming of age story. It doesn’t matter if it comes in the form of a movie, book, or song. I love thinking about the transition from one way of living to something completely different. In many ways,… Continue reading
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Podcast Episode: See and Say the AI Way
Note: The underlying article can be found at See and Say the AI Way. Pip: There’s a certain irony in a podcast about AI podcasts — made by an AI podcast tool — hosted by two virtual hosts who are, in fact, Pip and Mara. We are, for the record, aware of this. Mara: Andrew… Continue reading
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See and Say the AI Way
There’s no reality except the one contained within us. That’s why so many people live an unreal life. They take images outside them for reality and never allow the world within them to assert itself. Hermann Hesse Those of you who have been paying attention to my recent blog articles have surely witnessed my experimentation… Continue reading
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Podcast Episode: Our Profile in Courage
Note: The underlying article can be found at Our Profile in Courage. Pip: One phone per house, one number for the whole family — and somehow, that’s the metaphor Andrew Prokop reaches for when talking about a Kennedy Profile in Courage award. It works, which is the mildly annoying thing about good writing. Mara: This… Continue reading
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Our Profile in Courage
Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. T. S. Eliot I grew up in a time when there was one telephone per house. People would call our number, Whitney 5-2497, regardless if you wanted to reach Mom, Dad, any of my five siblings, or me.… Continue reading
Can You Hear Me Now 