Originally published in Indy Week. IF THERE’S A CARNIVALESQUE CENTER to downtown Cleveland this week, it’s the five hundred feet of East Fourth Street leading to the Republican National Convention’s perimeter fence. The narrow brick street is thick with delegates, journalists, musicians, souvenir vendors, obscure-issue protesters, and police officers imported from around the country. MSNBC […]
His Own MAN
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 communities. […]
Lifting the Emotional Embargo in Cuba
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 […]
The Gutbucket King
Update: The Gutbucket King is now available free. Click here to go directly to the story. The New New South, a digital publisher of longform journalism about the South, has released The Gutbucket King, New Orleans bluesman Little Freddie King’s epic story of migration, music, booze, bloodshed, race, and redemption. It was written by Barry Yeoman, […]
The Art of Sand Castles
They call themselves sand sculptors—artists who build massive structures on the beach for fun and profit, only to watch their work disappear overnight. Originally published in Coastal Living. THE LATE 1990S CLOBBERED KIRK RADEMAKER. He was in his mid-40s, a trained carpenter with an fine-art degree, stuck in a stressful job: project manager for a large […]
A Moveable Feast
America’s Creole migration brought a whole new flavor to California. Originally published in American Way, in conjunction with the documentary Zydeco Nation. Photos by John Noltner. AT 4:00 ON A SATURDAY AFTERNOON, the cars start turning onto Embarcadero Way. The street in Palo Alto, Calif., has all the charm you’d expect from a Silicon Valley business […]
Louisiana Musician Finds His Own ‘Solution to Pollution’
Drew Landry’s “BP Blues” helped focus attention on the plight of fishermen and oilfield workers after the Deepwater Horizon blowout. Now Landry is collaborating with bluesman Dr. John on a CD of environmental songs. A sampler will be released April 20, the one-year anniversary of the oil spill, during a New Orleans concert. Produced by […]
Expletive Deleter
As head of the FCC, alumnus Kevin Martin has tackled issues as controversial as when to allow dirty words on television and how much to rein in cable companies. But even though he has embraced Republican orthodoxy when it comes to indecency and media consolidation, FCC watchers have been fascinated by the frequency with which […]
Strong Medicine
Writing fiction was a bittersweet remedy for novelist Lee Smith. But it led to her triumphant return from tragedy. Originally published in Pages. FOR MOST OF HER LIFE, THE CIVIL WAR held little fascination for Lee Smith. The daughter of a dime-store owner, she grew up in the Appalachian coal town of Grundy, Virginia, which had no […]
Traveling Thoreau’s Cape Cod
As the writer noted over a century ago, the best time to visit New England’s storied coastline is the off-season. Originally published in US Airways Magazine. THE YOUNG TRAVELER WAS QUICK-WITTED, ACERBIC, and a bit cranky about having to venture so far from home. Arriving at Cape Cod for the first time, he was not […]
