MARGARET MEAD AND HUMANITY'S COMING OF AGE

How one woman changed the way people look at people.

Women, HEROESThe AtticMarch 20, 2018Women, Margaret Mead, anthropology, franz boas, samoa Comment

THE FLAGS OF JASPER JOHNS

Turning the grand old flag into art took genius.

ART-ISHThe AtticMarch 5, 2018Pop art, American flag, 1950s, Modern art, American Originals Comment

LINCOLN IN MOURNING

A new novel, Lincoln in the Bardo, probes the president's deep sorrow. But how did his son's death change the president and the Civil War?

UNITED WE SPEAK... AMERICAN

You say "youse." I say "you guys." You say "pop." I say "soda." Let's call ourselves American.

SPEAKING AMERICANThe AtticFebruary 22, 2018American dialect, American speech Comments

RUBE GOLDBERG -- MASTER OF CRAZY CONTRAPTIONS

Inventive, clever, funny, cartoonist Rube Goldberg captured our love/hate affair with machines.

WITSThe AtticFebruary 3, 2018Rube Goldberg, Technology, Cartooning Comments

ELIZABETH COTTEN -- THE WOMAN WHO PLAYED UPSIDE DOWN

Elizabeth Cotten charmed audiences with her "Freight Train" and her unique picking.

FOLKIESThe AtticFebruary 2, 2018Elizabeth Cotten, Folk Music, Fingerpicking guitar Comment

THOMAS PAINE -- BEYOND "COMMON SENSE"

In these "times that try men's souls," Thomas Paine offers a remedy -- believe in people, not institutions.

DINNER WITH JUDY CHICAGO

How an idea at a dinner party turned into an art masterpiece. The table is set.

ART-ISHThe AtticJanuary 2, 2018Feminism, Women, Arts Comments

THE BATTLE FOR CHRISTMAS

A “War on Christmas?” Nothing new. In fact, the modern holiday emerged from a battle against seasonal revelry. Ho ho ho.

WONDERSThe AtticDecember 22, 2017Battle for Christmas, Christmas Comments

THE LITTLE GALLERY THAT CAUGHT THE LIGHT

Photography was not art until Alfred Stieglitz and his little gallery insisted that it was.

ART-ISHThe AtticDecember 13, 2017Arts, Modern art Comments

IN LOVE WITH AMERICA'S NAMES

Intercourse, Hell, Boring, What Cheer...

GASHOUSE

They were Dizzy, Daffy, and Ducky. They clowned, brawled, and romped through the Great Depression.

WITSThe AtticAugust 1, 2017Baseball lore, American Originals, History Comments

AN AUCTION IN BRICK CITY

Hebron bricks were “what America is made of.” But the bricklayer’s house went for a song.

BUILDERSThe AtticJuly 19, 2017North Dakota, American heartland, American Labor Comment

THE GRAND COULEE DAM -- "BIGGEST THING THAT MAN HAS EVER DONE"

Fifty stories high and a mile wide. The Attic visits the great Grand Coulee Dam.

SATCHEL -- THE OLD MAN AND THE GAME

The starting pitcher was 59-years-old. "Don't look back, something might be gaining on you."

HEROESThe AtticApril 15, 2017Baseball lore, 1960s, People of Color, Satchel Paige Comments

KINDER, COOLER, SMARTER

NOW IN OUR TENTH YEAR!

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