October 17, 2009
The always venerable Democracy Now is today reporting that administrators at California Polytechnic State University refused to let author Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma, In Defense of Food) deliver a planned lecture on sustainable food at the university last night. An esteemed author and expert on food politics and sustainable agriculture being muzzled at a state […]
October 17, 2009
“Beauty is Nothing Without Brains” (…or a reference interview gone horribly wrong?)[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy1gTAsB9gg]
October 11, 2009
The 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to Herta Müller, “who, with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed.” A native of Romania, Müller was one of many who opposed the oppressive Ceauşescu regime, and much of her work reflects the theme of living under […]
October 5, 2009
There is something about maps that inspires wonder, excitement, and possibility. But with today’s heavy reliance on GPS units, satellites, radar, and other technological advances to the world of travel, much of the mystery and allure of stepping out into the unknown has been lost. It has become so easy to just hop into a car, […]
October 3, 2009
Jonathan Miles has spent years writing for various magazines and newspapers around the country. He is currently a columnist and editor at Men’s Journal and writes the biweekly cocktails column “Shaken and Stirred” for the New York Times. He has also had pieces featured in the Best American Sports Writing and Best American Crime Writing anthologies. […]
October 2, 2009
Ken Burns, filmmaker and master documentarian of all things American (The Civil War, Baseball, Jazz, Brooklyn Bridge, The Congress, The Statue of Liberty) has a brand new film debuting on PBS this fall. This time out, Burns has set his sights on America’s National Park Service in his film entitled The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. […]
September 28, 2009
Pictures From a Drawer: Prison and the Art of Portraiture by Bruce Jackson They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and paging through this simple yet riveting book breathes a powerful new breath of truth into the tired old adage. The book is comprised of old prisoner identification photographs of inmates housed in Arkansas’ […]
September 26, 2009
A writer ponders why many writers seem to sound smarter in print than in person… [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldpj_5JNFoA]
September 19, 2009
Thousands wrote and called the Pennsylvania State Legislature to advocate for the Free Library of Philadelphia system, and they listened! On September 17th, by a vote of 32 to 17, the state senate passed the legislation that was needed for Philadelphia to avoid a “Doomsday” budget scenario, which would have resulted in the layoff of […]
September 18, 2009
If the lush green island above looks strangely familiar, that’s because you’ve undoubtedly seen it many times before. Although if you’re having trouble placing just how you know this beautiful wild landscape, that’s because you’re probably used to seeing it look more like this: Of course you know that the second picture is Manhattan Island […]
