SEQUOYAH AND THE "TALKING LEAVES"
The miracle of writing evaded the natives until one man made the leap.
WHERE LIGHT AND LIGHTNING RULE
Lightning may not strike often, but “The Lightning Field” electrifies the New Mexico desert.
CELEBRATING SCHLOCKY SENTENCES
Beyond “dark and stormy night,” “bad lit” contests made purple prose proliferate.
"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 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?
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.