For a full year, poet Ross Gay focused on things that delight him. The result: The Book of Delights. You need this now.

BOOK-ISHThe AtticMarch 1, 2024Ross Gay, American poetry, Book of Delights Comments

A MIND FOR THE MASSES

Martin Gardner was interested in everything and made everything interesting.

TEACHERS & HEALERS, teachers & healers, TEACHERS, teachersThe AtticFebruary 28, 2024Martin Gardner, Scientific American, Mathematics, Recreational math, puzzles, Alice in Wonderland, The Annotated Alice Comments

THE WOMAN WHO SAID 'NO!' TO NIXON

While the nation watched, Barbara Jordan stepped out of the Jim Crow past to defend democracy.

HEROES, DEMOCRACYThe AtticFebruary 21, 2024Barbara Jordan, U.S. Congress, Watergate, House Judiciary Committee, Nixon impeachment, Richard Nixon Comments

A GENIUS AND HIS MAGIC CAMERAS

Photography was anything but instant before Edwin Land made a magic camera called Polaroid.

DREAMERSThe AtticFebruary 15, 2024Edwin Land, Polaroid, Polaroid corporation, Polaroid camera, SX-70 Comment

THE NEWS: A USER'S MANUAL

BOOK-ISHThe AtticFebruary 6, 2024Alain de Botton, TV news, 24/7 cable news, book reviewsComment

GREAT DAY IN HARLEM

Like the music it celebrated, the iconic photo of jazz greats was mostly improv.

HEROESThe AtticJanuary 31, 2024A Great day in Harlem, Jaz, Jazz history, Ken Burns' Jazz, Harlem, Black history, Black History Month Comments

TV'S FINEST DIMENSION

Through the worst seasons of TV’s “wasteland,” Rod Serling brought intelligence and irony to “the boob tube.”

DREAMERSThe AtticJanuary 25, 2024The Twilight Zone, Rod Serling, Televisioin, Television history, "The Twilight Zone" Comments

DEEP, DEEP DOWN. . .

The deep ocean remained a mystery until William Beebe and his Bathysphere found new depths.

WONDERSThe AtticJanuary 17, 2024Bathysphere, William Beebe, Oceanic discovery, Technology, Invention, Deep sea exploration Comment

SUPERSISTERS! COLLECT 'EM ALL!

When a nine-year-old girl asked about trading cards, her mother and aunt got busy. And “Supersisters” went viral.

HEROESBruce WatsonJanuary 11, 2024Supersisters, SupersistersTM, Lois Rich, Women's history, Trading Cards, 1970s, Women's culture, Great women Comments

THE NIGHT THE STARS FELL

In 1833, when fire and brimstone lit the sky, most Americans trembled. But a few turned to “the lights of science.”

WONDERS, WondersBruce WatsonJanuary 4, 2024The Night the Stars Fell, Astronomy, Meteor Showers, Second Great Awakening, Leonids, 1833 Comments

EDISON'S LITTLE GLOBE OF SUNSHINE

On the eve of 1880, Thomas Edison threw a New Year’s party unlike any before or since. Let there be light!

WONDERSThe AtticDecember 27, 2023Thomas Edison, Electric light, Menlo Park, NJ, Menlo Park New Jersey, Edison national historic site, invention, American invention, Edison Comment

THE "ICE FLOWERS" OF SNOWFLAKE BENTLEY

Folks in Jericho, Vermont thought the Bentley boy was crazy to be out in the snow. Then they saw his photos.

WONDERS, ART-ISHThe AtticDecember 18, 2023Snowflake Bentley, Vermont, WInter, Snowflakes Comments

THE EINSTEIN OF GREEN LIVING

Critics scoffed but Amory Lovins has stayed on “the soft path” to renewable energy.

HEROES, TEACHERS, TEACHERS & HEALERSThe AtticDecember 15, 2023Amory Lovins, Hunter Lovins, Rocky Mountain Institute, RMI, Environment, Environmental Movement, Solar Energy Comments

THE COLD WAR COMES TO VERMONT

Drafted into the Cold War, Cavendish gave Alexander Solzhenitsyn what he’d never had — a home.

BOOK-ISHThe AtticDecember 7, 2023Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Cavendish, vermont, Cold War, Gulag Archipelago, Nobel Prize for Literature Comments

THE DUNE SHACKS OF PROVINCETOWN

Like citadels against modernity, 19 shacks stand on the edge of America. Can they survive?

American PlacesThe AtticNovember 30, 2023Dune shacks, Peaked Hill bar, Provincetown, Cape Cod, Dune shacks of Peaked Hill Bar, Dune Shacks of Provincetown Comments

TECH'S BIG COMEBACK -- VINYL!

Obsolete, old-fashioned, vinyl records went into history’s dustbin. And then. . .

WONDERS, COMEBACKSThe AtticNovember 25, 2023Vinyl, Vinyl comeback, Music industry, Jack White, Vinyl revival Comments

KINDER, COOLER, SMARTER

NOW ENTERING OUR TENTH YEAR!

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