Republican National Convention, Day 2: “Hillary Is a Foreign Agent of the Communist Chinese!”

by Barry Yeoman on

Originally published in Indy Week. ALEX JONES, PRESUMABLY, ISN’T USED TO LOSING control of the stage. The syndicated radio host, dubbed “the most prolific conspiracy theorist in contemporary America” by the Southern Poverty Law Center, has a gift for energizing crowds. Before he spoke a single word at Monday’s America First Unity Rally—an unofficial Donald Trump […]

Republican National Convention, Day 1: “There Will Be an End to the Earth”

by Barry Yeoman on

Originally published in Indy Week. ON THE EVE OF THE REPUBLICAN National Convention, the Cleveland 2016 Host Committee threw a welcoming party for several thousand delegates and guests. It was held at the North Coast Harbor, a recreation area—closed to the public for the evening and heavily secured—between downtown and Lake Erie. The Rock and Roll Hall […]

The 30 Years That Brought Us HB 2

by Barry Yeoman on

Click here for “The 30 Years That Brought Us HB 2,” Indy Week and Triad City Beat, July 2016.

The 30 Years That Brought Us HB2

by Barry Yeoman on

North Carolina’s bathroom bill seemed like a bolt from nowhere. But it was three decades in the making. Originally published in Indy Week and Triad City Beat. Photos by Alex Boerner. I. Hell Breaks Loose Last year, when the Rev. Mykal Slack was preparing to move south to Durham, nearer to his and his wife’s families, […]

His Own MAN

by Barry Yeoman on

By challenging traditional ideas around academia, Mark Anthony Neal has broadened what it means to be a scholar. Originally published in Duke Magazine.  Click. A video of R&B musician Jill Scott fills the screen. She’s belting out “Strange Fruit,” a ballad written in the 1930s to protest the lynchings—hangings and other mob violence—that were terrorizing African-American […]

The Gulf War

by Barry Yeoman on

Click here for “The Gulf War,” published by the Food & Environment Reporting Network, June 2016. Alternately, click here for the shorter, newsier Texas Monthly version.

Lifting the Emotional Embargo in Cuba

by Barry Yeoman on

An unorthodox blend of anthropology and poetry is cultivating reunion and reconciliation among people and cultures that have been estranged for decades. Originally published in Sapiens. THE JUNE HEAT WAS SO INTENSE, the air so still, that the open balcony doors offered little relief. Anthropologist Ruth Behar felt her clothes sticking as she looked over […]

“A Stench in this Government Chamber”

by Barry Yeoman on

Why the debate over North Carolina’s House Bill 2 feels all too familiar Originally published in Indy Week. Click here for Barry’s longer story about House Bill 2. I LOST A COUPLE OF HOURS yesterday in front of my computer, watching North Carolina’s culture wars unfold in real time. The state legislature had convened a […]

Blues Brothers

by Barry Yeoman on

Eddie Tigner was nearing the end of his musical career when he met Daniel “Mudcat” Dudeck. Their friendship gave Dudeck a mentor and Tigner a second chance at success. Originally published in Atlanta Magazine. Photos by Ben Rollins. AT 2:10 A.M. ON A SUNDAY, THE INSIDE of Northside Tavern looks like a music­al tempest has […]

‘Nowhere to go but up’

by Barry Yeoman on

Don’t blame the recent flooding along the Mississippi River on the rain. We created this mess. Originally published in onEarth. TWO DAYS AFTER CHRISTMAS, Jamie Nash-Mayberry received a text message from one of her students during a rare out-of-town vacation. “When u get time,” it said, “check out the river stages.” After heavy rainfall, the […]