Editor’s Letter – 2/7/18

“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” —F. Scott Fitzgerald 

Conversation has been a running theme in The Tulsa Voice and in our office over the last several months. Since the Resistance issue (Nov. 1, 2017; Vol. 4, No. 22), in particular, we’ve been interested in broadening the kinds of conversations we have and the kinds of people with whom we engage. Our goal is to keep pushing further in this area. Have an idea for a conversation you’d like to see in the paper? Send me an email: liz@langdonpublishing.com.

For this issue, Barry Friedman sat down with First Congressional District candidate Danny Stockstill for a lively conversation about the Right and where they think it’s failing. Stockstill presents as a level-headed, thoughtful Republican. Friedman presents as his usual sassy self. (We love you, Barry!) The conversation is enjoyable and revealing, and it made me consider the preconceived notions about the GOP we see pervading our media.

Damion Shade sat down with three local tax professionals and got their take on the tax bill signed into law by Trump in December. Full disclosure: When he pitched the article, a small part of me thought, “Taxes … yawn.” But I told that part to be quiet, and Shade proved this was the right move. In reading his piece I was reminded again that the big, national things—especially the ones that garner endless quarreling across the aisle—do affect us at the local, micro level.

2018 Tulsa Artist Fellow and journalist Kristi Eaton spent time with two Native women, Leslie Deere (Muscogee (Creek) Nation) and Kalli Watkins (Cherokee Nation), who successfully completed their tribes’ post-prison reintegration programs. And new TTV contributor Kara Bellavia spoke with several Tulsa and Union Public Schools staffers about the food Tulsa kids are eating on a near-daily basis.

I hope you enjoy the issue and are staying warm, Tulsa!