HOW BURNING MAN GOT SO HOT

From a small bonfire on a beach, Burning Man has grown to 75,000 joyous Burners in the Nevada desert. Why not?

American Places, DREAMERSThe AtticAugust 21, 2025Burning Man, Larry Harvey, Black Rock City, Burning Man 2021 Comments

"IN PRAISE OF BOREDOM"

Dartmouth grads expected the usual boring commencement speaker. But Joseph Brodsky spoke about boredom itself, aka “your window on time.”

BOOK-ISHThe AtticAugust 14, 2025Joseph Brodsky, Nobel Prize, American literature, Boredom, In Praise of Boredom Comments

THANK YOU, RAY BRADBURY!

Born into a world of radios and Model T’s, he envisioned a fantastic future. And you can’t say he didn’t warn us.

DREAMERS, BOOK-ISHThe AtticAugust 7, 2025Ray Bradbury, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Martian Chronicles, Fahrenheit 451 Comments

"THE SHAPE OF WONDER"

Science used to be respected and trusted. What happened and how can we move beyond the BS and back to the facts?

BOOK-ISHBruce WatsonAugust 4, 2025The Shape of Wonder, Science education, Alan Lightman, Martin Rees, Science stereotypes Comments

THE AMERICANS WHO SAID 'NO!' TO EMPIRE

When war made America a colonial power, eloquent voices recalled “the spirit of 1776.”

REBELSThe AtticJuly 25, 2025Anti-Imperialist League, American Anti-Imperialist League, anti-imperialism, Spanish-American War, Mark Twain, William James, Jane Addams Comments

THE WOMAN WHO BUILT THE GRAND CANYON

Back when women did not build, Mary Jane Colter wove the ancient and the modern into canyon wonders.

DREAMERS, American PlacesThe AtticJuly 7, 2025Mary Jane Colter, Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park Comments

NO QUESTION TOO STRANGE OR STUPID

What if the sun went out? What if we all aimed laser pointers at the moon? Got a question? Ask Randall Munroe, “thing explainer.”

WITSThe AtticJune 24, 2025Randall Munroe, What If?, What If 2?, xkcd, physics Comments

THE ATTIC READS: NOT TOO LATE

Think it’s too late to do anything about global warming? Rebecca Solnit says, “think again.”

BOOK-ISH, HEROESThe AtticJune 16, 2025Rebecca Solnit, Global warming, Not too Late, Optimism, Environmental Movement, Environmental movement, Greenhouse gases, Global activism Comment

BATTER UP FOR BANANA BALL

How the Savannah Bananas became the hottest, and hip-hopping-est team in baseball.

WITSThe AtticJune 12, 2025Banana Ball, Savannah Bananas, American baseball Comments

MILLION, BILLION -- WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?

Decades ago, John Allen Paulos described the consequences of “innumeracy.” We failed that test. Now what?

BATTLING THE B.S., Battling the B.S., TEACHERS, teachers & healers, TEACHERS & HEALERSThe AtticMay 29, 2025Innumeracy, John Allen Paulos, Math literacy, Ignorance, American ignorance Comments

THE GRAD SPEECH WITH 'CAPITAL-T TRUTH'

Twenty years on, “This is Water” still brings David Foster Wallace’s wisdom to the world.

TEACHERS, teachersThe AtticMay 15, 2025David Foster Wallace, DFW, Infinite Jest, This is Water, Commencement speeches Comments

THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND -- A ROAD TRIP REVIEW

The Attic rides along with Yale historian Beverly Gage as she visits American history sites from sea to shining sea.

BOOK-ISH, Battling the B.S.The AtticMay 12, 2025Beverly Gage, This Land is Your Land book, American history road tripComment

DOWNSHIFTING

When a hurried America needed answers, three books helped us put on the brakes.

BOOK-ISHThe AtticMay 1, 2025Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance, Blue Highways, A Walk Across America, Bestsellers, American zeitgeist, Popular philosophy Comments

THE MAN WHO BROKE JIM CROW

Jokes about lawyers and “activist” judges. Time to remember when Thurgood Marshall took the law and Constitution at their word.

HEROESThe AtticApril 18, 2025Thurgood Marshall, Brown v. Board of Education, NAACP, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Jim Crow, School segregatoin, Civil Rights, Civil Rights Movement, Supreme Court, SCOTUS Comments

un-abridged -- a delightful romp through dictionaries

With dictionaries endangered, Stefan Fatsis offers a treat for fellow word lovers.

BOOK-ISHThe AtticApril 9, 2025un-abridged, Stefan Fatsis, Book reviews, Merriam-Webster, Dictionary, dictionaries, American dictionariesComment

WAVE THEORY

For decades, sports fans cheered, booed, and everything in-between. But how did they come up with The Wave?

WONDERSThe AtticApril 1, 2025The Wave, Baseball's Wave, Krazy George, Krazy George Henderson Comment

KINDER, COOLER, SMARTER!

WORKING ON CUTER. . .

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