'How Foreign Human Behavior Can Be'

Unlike blogger Alyssa Rosenberg, my kids grew up watching television -- or at least the television that I allowed them to watch.

When they got a little older, this included Star Trek: The Next Generation series, the one with Captain Picard, Commander Riker, Counselor Troi, Worf and, of course, the android Data.

The Next Generation was a four-fer: Terrific character development and ensemble acting, not overly reliant on special effects, nary a weak episode in its seven-year run (and endless reruns), and wonderfully entertaining while imparting each week a lesson or moral on my youngsters as applicable in their adolescence as it was to be in the 24th century.

While I thought Troi was a babe and a half, my favorite character always was Data. Rosenberg, who is now making up for lost time, riffs beautifully on exactly why that was so.

Hat tip to Ta-Nehisi Coates