DARK SKIES OVER DRIPPIN’

As Texas grows and glows, Hill Country towns are dimming the lights and saving the night sky.

American PlacesThe AtticAugust 16, 2022Dark Skies, Dripping Springs Comments

RIDING THE MIRACLE RAILS -- "NOTHING LIKE IT IN THE WORLD"

The Attic journeys over the Sierras on the trackbeds of America’s epic Transcontinental Railroad.

American Places, BUILDERSThe AtticAugust 11, 2022Transcontinental Railroad, Amtrak, Trains, Train rides, Sierra Nevadas Comments

ART + INDUSTRY + INNOVATION = MASS MOCA

Turning an old factory into a cutting-edge art museum was just the start of Mass MoCA’s magic.

American Places, ART-ISHThe AtticAugust 5, 2022Mass MoCA, Contemporary Art, Art museums Comment

THE GREAT AMERICAN ROAD TRIP -- AND MINE

The Great American Road Trip is barely a century old.

American PlacesThe AtticAugust 1, 2022Comment

FROM AMERICA'S EMPTY QUARTER

Somewhere just outside of Wolf Point, Montana, I step into the prairie wilderness.

American PlacesThe AtticJuly 29, 2022Montana, Eastern Montana, Wolf Point Montana, Wilderness Ideal Comment

DOWN AT THE CADILLAC RANCH

The artists of Ant Farm planted their car craziness on the Texas Panhandle. The world came. So did The Attic.

American Places, ART-ISHThe AtticJuly 29, 2022Cadillac Ranch, Ant Farm, Pop art, Amarillo, Texas, Springsteen Comments

CATCH A WAVE -- IN SURF CITY

Surfing is worldwide but it took a California beach town to make it a craze. And to keep it current.

American PlacesThe AtticJuly 28, 2022Surfing, Surf music, Surf culture, Huntington Beach, Beach BoysComment

DALE CHILHULY -- THROUGH A GLASS BRIGHTLY

Glass half-blinded and nearly killed Dale Chihuly. But he became its master.

ART-ISHThe AtticJuly 28, 2022Dale Chihuly, Glass blowing, Chihuly, Chihuly Garden and Glass, American art Comments

EIGHT GENERAL STORES IN VERMONT

They invented one-stop shopping — in the 1800s. Can they survive in the age of Amazon?

American PlacesThe AtticJuly 22, 2022Vermont General Stores, Vermont, Green Mountain State Comment

W.E.B. DUBOIS AND THE GREAT RACE DEBATE

When W.E.B. DuBois debated Lothrop Stoddard, white supremacy was laughed off the stage.

TEACHERS, HEROESThe AtticJuly 14, 2022W.E.B. DuBois, Lothrop Stoddard, Race in America, Racial debate, eugenics, The Rising Tide of Color Against White World Supremacy Comments

WHO WOULD GO NAZI?

Booted out of the Reich, Dorothy Thompson warned Americans of Nazis in their midst. Was anyone listening?

HEROESThe AtticJuly 7, 2022Dorothy Thompson, Hitler, Nazism, American Journalism, "It Can't Happen Here", Sinclair Lewis Comments

THE ECONOMIST AND THE COMMONS

The commons was doomed, economists said. Elinor Ostrom disagreed and won a Nobel.

TEACHERS & HEALERS, teachers & healers, DREAMERSThe AtticJuly 6, 2022Elinor Ostrom, Nobel Prize, Nobel Prize economicsComment

STEVERINO -- TELEVISION'S WISEST WIT

TV was “the boob tube” but Steve Allen brought intelligence, style, and a wacky wit that inspired generations.

WITSThe AtticJune 23, 2022Steve Allen, "The Tonight Show", humor, American humor, Jack Kerouac, Kerouac and Steve Allen Comments

ROCKET SCIENCE FOR BEGINNERS

Back when space travel was science-fiction, Robert Goddard saw no limit to the sky.

DREAMERSThe AtticJune 16, 2022Robert Goddard, Space travel, Apollo 11, Apollo program, NASA, Rocketry, Clark University, Buzz Aldrin Comment

GRAND DAME OF THE GLADES

Neighbors considered it a swamp but Marjory Stoneman Douglas saved the Everglades and inspired a generation.

HEROESBruce WatsonJune 9, 2022Marjory Stoneman Douglas, The Everglades, Conservation, Environmental movement, Parkland shootings Comments

WHO IS AMERICA'S GREATEST THINKER?

Think the Midwest is just corn country? The annual Great American Think-off will make you think again.

TEACHERS, teachers, teachers & healers, TEACHERS & HEALERSBruce WatsonJune 2, 2022Great American Think-off, Philosophy, American philosophy, Thinking Comment

KINDER, COOLER, SMARTER

NOW ENTERING OUR TENTH YEAR!

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