"NETWORK" -- STILL MAD AS HELL

“Network" did not predict populist anger -- it foresaw a network using anger to boost ratings. Sound familiar?

WITS, ATTIC AT THE MOVIESThe AtticApril 2, 2021Humor, Movies, Satire, TV Comments

STEVE GOODMAN -- GOOD MORNIN' AMERICA

“Every audience was his,” Kris Kristofferson said, but no one knew Steve Goodman’s sad secret.

PHILADELPHIA BURNING -- THE ABOLITIONIST WEDDING

When the Northern groom married the Southern bride, the bond was love. And a fight for freedom.

REBELSThe AtticMarch 19, 2021abolition, slavery, american history, grimke, civil war Comments

FREDERIC CHURCH -- THE FINEST EYE

Fresh from the Hudson River School, Frederic Church stunned America with “Niagara,” then set his vision in stone.

ART-ISHThe AtticMarch 4, 2021American art, Hudson River School, Frederic Church, Olana Comments

JAIME ESCALANTE AND THE CALCULUS OF HOPE

Students called Jaime Escalante “Kimo.” He called them his “burros.” But the key to his success was ganas — the drive to succeed. (As seen in “Stand and Deliver.”)

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.

teachers, TEACHERSThe AtticFebruary 12, 2021Benjamin Banneker, Thomas Jefferson, Education, Black history Comments

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.

WITSThe AtticFebruary 4, 2021Bill Lee, Bill "Spaceman" Lee, Boston Red SoxComment

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.

WITSThe AtticFebruary 1, 2021humor, women, arts, Nichols and May, Mike Nichols, Elaine May, Comedy Comments

PAPA FLASH AND THE SPLINTERED SECOND

Fast cameras caught split second action but “Doc” Edgerton’s strobe captured magic.

WONDERS, ART-ISHBruce WatsonJanuary 28, 2021Harold Edgerton, M.I.T., Strobe photography, Papa Flash Comment

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.

HEROESThe AtticJanuary 8, 2021Lynn Margulis, Micro biology, Gaia Hypothesis, James Lovelock Comments

EDWARD S. CURTIS, SHADOW CATCHER

Roaming the West for three decades, Edward Curtis caught more than shadows. He caught the soul of proud nations.

ART-ISHThe AtticDecember 18, 2020Edward S. Curtis, Photography, Native Americans, ES Curtis Comments

THE WOMAN WHO SAVES OLD GROWTH

Stepping into Old Growth, Joan Maloof felt the forest. Now she is set on saving “the ancients.”

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

WITSThe AtticNovember 26, 2020H.L. Mencken, 1920s, American humor, Scopes Trial, Baltimore Comments

KINDER, COOLER, SMARTER

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