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Frog in a
Drain Pipe
Richard Sonnenmoser's amplifier: writing, literary podcast, music.
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On the Arbitrary and Capricious Treatment of International Students: A Letter to Congressman Sam Graves
April 28, 2025 Congressman Sam Graves 1135 Longworth HOB Washington, D.C. 20515 Congressman Sam Graves: I am writing today...
RBSonnenmoser
Apr 2719 min read
The Pinch; or, How It's Almost Impossible to Follow a Straight Flush with a Full House
A warning: no one’s gonna be happy all the way through. If you support the Defendant and want him to be the next President of the United...
RBSonnenmoser
Jan 6, 202414 min read
Wax Critical
Amy Wax, an otherwise unremarkable law professor, has been much in the news. Not for scholarly breakthroughs or contributions to her...
RBSonnenmoser
Mar 28, 202325 min read
Christmas Eve
We lost our dog, Frankie, yesterday. On December 23, 2022, our beloved rust-colored Miniature Pinscher died. He was twelve. He had kidney...
RBSonnenmoser
Dec 25, 20229 min read
POTUS Defense: Merely an Advocate of Insurrection
There’s a game people play when opening their fortune cookies. You read your fortune out loud and add “in bed” at the end. It’s not so...
RBSonnenmoser
Jan 14, 20216 min read
Josh Hawley Thinks You're Stupid
In “Dwight K. Schrute, (Acting) Manager,” from season 7 of The Office, Dwight Schrute, played by Rainn Wilson, accidently fires a gun at...
RBSonnenmoser
Jan 7, 20215 min read
RBSonnenmoser
Jan 3, 20210 min read
Keep On: Thoughts on the Moral Aftermath of the Murder of George Floyd
“The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent...
RBSonnenmoser
Jun 29, 202030 min read
The Second Half of the Sentence
The phrase that got all the attention was “I would like you to do us a favor though.” Because we can hear it in the mouth of a movie...
RBSonnenmoser
Oct 13, 201913 min read
Rejection Feeds Artistic Creation. Canceling Starves It. (Part 1 of 2)
I’ve been thinking a lot about rejection lately. Which is to say: I’m writing. The memoir I’ve been writing for the last few years is...
RBSonnenmoser
May 7, 201910 min read
Rejection Feeds Artistic Creation. Cancellation Starves It. (Part 2 of 2)
During the "Ask Ellen" segment of Relatable, Degeneres invites a friend, the actor Laura Dern, who is sitting in the audience (next to...
RBSonnenmoser
May 7, 201911 min read
Living with the Low Boil
A wildly inappropriate simmering rage that, to my shame, lives beneath even typical Saturdays Last weekend, Kori and I took our kids to...
RBSonnenmoser
Feb 5, 201912 min read
These Storms Will Change You
A Review of Heather Harpham's Happiness I’ve been thinking a lot about this Facebook post by my friend and colleague John Gallaher:...
RBSonnenmoser
Jan 23, 20199 min read
Messrs. Graves, Blunt, and Hawley,
Tear down this wall. They’re going to get jobs. I think I’m going to do very well with Hispanics. But we’re building a wall. He’s a...
RBSonnenmoser
Jan 11, 201911 min read
“So, Whatever”: Why I Believe Christine Blasey Ford, Pt. 1
The 2018 election's over. Kavanaugh's been confirmed. He's earning a salary and writing opinions. So I know what I'm not doing: trying to...
RBSonnenmoser
Jan 5, 20199 min read
“So, Whatever”: Why I Believe Christine Blasey Ford, Pt. 2
Because his calendars are calendars. Or: An exploration of why Brett Kavanaugh's conventions, codes, and stories only convinced me that...
RBSonnenmoser
Jan 5, 201912 min read
Of Frogs in Drain Pipes
Do I write music and literary prose for the same reason that male frogs seek out cavernous spaces to amplify their voices? As a way to...
RBSonnenmoser
Jan 2, 20199 min read
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