APPALACHIA'S MUDDY INFO-HIGHWAY
When the Depression cut off Appalachia, women on horseback brought books into dark hollows.
VIEQUES RISING
Twenty years ago, after decades of protest, this Puerto Rican island ejected the U.S. Navy and restored peace. And paradise perhaps.
MUSIC'S MASTER TEACHER
Classical was a bore until Leonard Bernstein aired his “Young People’s Concerts.” (As seen in “Maestro.”)
MARATHON WOMEN
Women couldn’t run 26 miles. Impossible. Then women jumped into the pack in Boston, and ran and ran. . .
THE CATHEDRAL OF BASEBALL
In April 1923, the national pastime welcomed a stadium, a legend, and the first field of dreams.
THE AUDACITY OF VIOLINS
Blending Bach with Biggie, "Black Violin" challenges every tired old touchstone.
GENTLE ON THE RIVER
“Gentle on My Mind” made him famous but John Hartford’s heart was always on the Mississippi.
CRUISIN' WITH DAVID FOSTER WALLACE
On the verge of Infinite Jest, DFW took a cruise. His witty, acerbic, heartfelt account bore all the brilliance of his novels.
MEET THE FIRST ANTI-RACISTS
When America used “science” to back white supremacy, Franz Boas and his students battled the B.S.
DOWN THOSE SESAME STREETS
Children’s TV was a wasteland. Then Joan Ganz Cooney took us all to “Sesame Street.”
THE PINPOINT PRECISION OF LIGHT
Photography was losing its focus when Ansel Adams and friends founded Group f/64. And blew us all away.
WHAT ARE PEOPLE FOR?
Long before AI and Chat GPT, Wendell Berry asked a question we should all ponder.
THE WISDOM OF MR. NATURAL
Laid back and lampooning the Sixties and himself, R. Crumb’s creation keeps on truckin’.
SWEET HONEY'S ENDURING ROCK
From the trenches of Civil Rights to the concert stage, Bernice Johnson Reagon has sung the praises of black culture.
CHILDHOOD BEYOND THE BLUE
Before his “girls on rocks” became a cliche, Mayfield Parrish charmed America’s children.