BANNEKER VS. JEFFERSON -- THE ALMANAC OF INEQUALITY
Despite his glowing words, Jefferson thought blacks far from equal. Then a single letter took him to task.
BILL LEE -- FROM FENWAY TO OUTER SPACE
Strikeouts? Politics? Drugs? Transcendental Meditation? Ask the "Spaceman," still pitching in his late 60s. All for the love of the game.
DIDRIKSON -- THE OTHER BABE
Track and field, golf, baseball, basketball. . . Was there anything Babe Didrikson didn’t play? Yes, she said. Dolls.
NICHOLS AND MAY -- COMEDY'S PERFECT PAIR
Comedic couples come and go but there has never been a more perfect union of wit and mind than Nichols and May.
PAPA FLASH AND THE SPLINTERED SECOND
Fast cameras caught split second action but “Doc” Edgerton’s strobe captured magic.
LINCOLN AND THE 'MOBOCRATIC SPIRIT'
In 1837, when mob violence raged, a young lawyer rose to defend the rule of law. He spoke not to his time but for all time.
LYNN MARGULIS -- DEFYING DARWIN
When she proposed cooperation as the source of evolution, her research was called “crap.” But science soon proved Lynn Margulis’ radical theory.
EDWARD S. CURTIS, SHADOW CATCHER
Roaming the West for three decades, Edward Curtis caught more than shadows. He caught the soul of proud nations.
FAULKNER'S FINEST MOMENT
Shy and reclusive, he did not want to accept his Nobel in person. But he rose to the podium and lit a candle for humanity
H.L. MENCKEN, BANE OF THE BOOBOISIE
“Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.” — H.L. Mencken
THAT MAD, MAD MAGAZINE
For a full generation, as the world teetered on the brink, the lone voice mocking in the wilderness was truly MAD.
THE ONE, THE ONLY -- HARPO!
Shy second grade dropout. Struggled onstage with one-liners. Without a further word, he became a clown for the ages.
WOODY'S "OTHER NATIONAL ANTHEM"
On a winter night, alone and adrift, he checked into a fleabag hotel and began a new song. This land is your land, this land is my land. . .
THE OTHER COLUMBUS DAY
After centuries of smooth sailing, Columbus ran into the shoals of history. And Indigenous Peoples’ Day was born.
WATCHING US WATCH TV
Others saw TV as mindless, but George Gerbner saw it as mean. And he had the data to prove it.
HOW HERBERT HOOVER SAVED MILLIONS
During WW I, when famine loomed, Herbert Hoover masterminded a global relief effort that saved millions.