ROCKET SCIENCE FOR BEGINNERS
Back when space travel was science-fiction, Robert Goddard saw no limit to the sky.
GRAND DAME OF THE GLADES
Neighbors considered it a swamp but Marjory Stoneman Douglas saved the Everglades and inspired a generation.
WHO IS AMERICA'S GREATEST THINKER?
Think the Midwest is just corn country? The annual Great American Think-off will make you think again.
AMERICA'S PEACE PLATFORM -- THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL
In a city of monuments, one stands out. This week the Lincoln Memorial turns 100.
THE WOMAN IN THE MINEFIELDS
A UN treaty failed to ban landmines. Then a “quiet woman” from Vermont went to work.
THE GENIUS, HIS WIFE, AND THE BOMB
Nobel laureate Linus Pauling made weapons of war but Ava Helen taught him to wage peace.
THE MAINE GIRL AND THE SOVIET PREMIERE
The Cold War was at its coldest when Samantha Smith wrote to the Soviet premiere. When he wrote back, the thaw began.
MEET THE PEACEMAKERS
Shunned, mocked, arrested, America’s Peacemakers march on. This month we’ll meet a few of the blessed.
THE MENSCH WHO SAVED A LANGUAGE
Like the old folks who spoke it, Yiddish was dying out. Then Aaron Lanky rented a truck and. . . Mazel tov!
RFK -- "MAKE GENTLE THE LIFE OF THIS WORLD"
"Do they know about Martin Luther King?" Robert Kennedy asked as he stepped before the crowd.
"THE FAMILY OF MAN" -- STILL SHOWING US US
With the Cold War looming, The Family of Man toured the world, creating a family portrait that fought the gloom.
FRANCES PERKINS -- THE WOMAN WHO BROUGHT YOU THE WEEKEND
FDR was lukewarm on Labor until Frances Perkins masterminded Social Security, minimum wage, workmen’s comp. . . You’re welcome!
THE TAKING OF ALCATRAZ -- "WE HOLD THE ROCK!"
It was 1969, rebellion in the air, when Native-Americans landed on Alcatraz, claiming it as Indian Land.
DOROTHEA LANGE -- BEYOND "MIGRANT MOTHER"
Dorothea Lange gave the Depression a human face, but she was more than a “one-picture photographer.”
CLASSICAL'S CLEVER CUT-UP -- P.D.Q. BACH
Tongue in cheek and baton in hand, Peter Schickle poked fun at classical music and the justly forgotten P.D.Q. Bach.
MA RAINEY -- MOTHER OF THE BLUES
Ma Rainey sang, lived, and became the blues. But there was more to her than that “Slow, Drivin’ Moan.” (As seen in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”)