"MR. URBAN LEGEND" AND THE LIES THAT BIND
When Jan Harold Brunvand heard the same stories from students, he began collecting “urban legends.” They are too much with us now.
SWINGIN' WITH THE SWEETHEARTS
Big Bands were all male, all white. Then from the shadows of Jim Crow came the International Sweethearts of Rhythm.
A LEARNED JUDGE AND HIS "POETRY OF LIBERTY"
With America at war, Judge Learned Hand deftly defined “The Spirit of Liberty”
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?
"IN PRAISE OF BOREDOM"
Dartmouth grads expected the usual boring commencement speaker. But Joseph Brodsky spoke about boredom itself, aka “your window on time.”
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.
THE STINKING ROSE
Once mocked and feared, garlic has won over the hearts and menus of America.
THE AMERICANS WHO SAID 'NO!' TO EMPIRE
When war made America a colonial power, eloquent voices recalled “the spirit of 1776.”
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.
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.”
THE ATTIC READS: NOT TOO LATE
Think it’s too late to do anything about global warming? Rebecca Solnit says, “think again.”
BATTER UP FOR BANANA BALL
How the Savannah Bananas became the hottest, and hip-hopping-est team in baseball.
MILLION, BILLION -- WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?
Decades ago, John Allen Paulos described the consequences of “innumeracy.” We failed that test. Now what?
THE GRAD SPEECH WITH 'CAPITAL-T TRUTH'
Twenty years on, “This is Water” still brings David Foster Wallace’s wisdom to the world.
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.