When the Depression cut off Appalachia, women on horseback brought books into dark hollows.

teachersThe AtticApril 27, 2023Packhorse Libraries, Packhorse librarians, Appalachia, Eastern Kentucky, WPA, Works Progress Administration Comments

VIEQUES RISING

Twenty years ago, after decades of protest, this Puerto Rican island ejected the U.S. Navy and restored peace. And paradise perhaps.

American PlacesThe AtticApril 20, 2023Vieques, Puerto Rico, Vieques Puerto Rico Comments

MUSIC'S MASTER TEACHER

Classical was a bore until Leonard Bernstein aired his “Young People’s Concerts.” (As seen in “Maestro.”)

TEACHERS & HEALERS, teachers, ATTIC AT THE MOVIESThe AtticApril 13, 2023Leonard Bernstein, Young People's Concerts, New York Philharmonic, classical music Comments

MARATHON WOMEN

Women couldn’t run 26 miles. Impossible. Then women jumped into the pack in Boston, and ran and ran. . .

HEROESThe AtticApril 6, 2023Katharine Switzer, Boston Marathon, 1967 Boston Marathon, Jock Semple, women's running Comment

THE CATHEDRAL OF BASEBALL

In April 1923, the national pastime welcomed a stadium, a legend, and the first field of dreams.

American PlacesThe AtticMarch 30, 2023Yankee Stadium, Babe Ruth, New York Yankees, Old Yankee Stadium, The House that Ruth Built Comments

THE AUDACITY OF VIOLINS

Blending Bach with Biggie, "Black Violin" challenges every tired old touchstone.

REBELSThe AtticMarch 24, 2023Black Violin, Music, Violin music, Kev Marcus, Wil B Comments

GENTLE ON THE RIVER

“Gentle on My Mind” made him famous but John Hartford’s heart was always on the Mississippi.

FOLKIESBruce WatsonMarch 13, 2023John Hartford, Gentle on My Mind, Bluegrass music, Newgrass music, Nashville, Nashville sound Comment

CRUISIN' WITH DAVID FOSTER WALLACE

On the verge of Infinite Jest, DFW took a cruise. His witty, acerbic, heartfelt account bore all the brilliance of his novels.

WITS, BOOK-ISHThe AtticMarch 10, 2023David Foster Wallace, DFW, Infinite Jest, Post-modern literature, Post-modern lit, A Supposedly Fun Thing, Harper's Comments

MEET THE FIRST ANTI-RACISTS

When America used “science” to back white supremacy, Franz Boas and his students battled the B.S.

BATTLING THE B.S., TEACHERS, teachersThe AtticMarch 9, 2023Franz Boas, Margaret Mead, Gods of the Upper Air, Ruth Benedict, white supremacy, Edward Sapir, anthropology, Nazi eugenics, eugenics Comment

DOWN THOSE SESAME STREETS

Children’s TV was a wasteland. Then Joan Ganz Cooney took us all to “Sesame Street.”

CREATIVES, TEACHERS, teachers, TEACHERS & HEALERSThe AtticMarch 3, 2023Sesame Street, PBS, Children's Television Workshop, Educational TV, Joan Ganz Cooney, Big Bird, The Muppets Comments

THE TYCOONS VS. THE NEWSBOYS

Hearst and Pulitzer refused to play fair, so the Newsies walked off the job. And won America’s hearts. (As seen in “The Newsies.”)

REBELS, ATTIC AT THE MOVIESBruce WatsonMarch 1, 2023Newsies, The Newsies, Newsboys strike of 1899, Child Labor, American child labor, American labor Comment

THE PINPOINT PRECISION OF LIGHT

Photography was losing its focus when Ansel Adams and friends founded Group f/64. And blew us all away.

ART-ISHBruce WatsonFebruary 23, 2023Group f/64, Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Imogen Cunningham, Photography, The Depression, The West Comment

WHAT ARE PEOPLE FOR?

Long before AI and Chat GPT, Wendell Berry asked a question we should all ponder.

BOOK-ISHThe AtticFebruary 16, 2023Wendell Berry, Environmental Movement, What are People for, Chat GPT, AI, artificial intelligence Comments

THE WISDOM OF MR. NATURAL

Laid back and lampooning the Sixties and himself, R. Crumb’s creation keeps on truckin’.

WITSThe AtticFebruary 9, 2023R. Crumb, Mr. Natural, underground comics, underground comix, Zap Comix, Sixties, Sixties Counter-culture, Haight-Ashbury Comments

THE ATTIC READS: THE EXPLORERS

BOOK-ISHThe AtticFebruary 5, 2023The Explorers, Amanda Bellows, American exploration Comment

SWEET HONEY'S ENDURING ROCK

From the trenches of Civil Rights to the concert stage, Bernice Johnson Reagon has sung the praises of black culture.

TEACHERS, FOLKIESThe AtticFebruary 4, 2023Bernice Johnson Reagon, SNCC, Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, Civil Rights Movement, Freedom Songs, Sweet Honey in the Rock Comments