The Glamorous Life of the On-Camera Talent
Monday, February 05 2024
Ken Burns once told me: You want to know the key to being in my documentaries, all other things being equal? Stick the landings.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Sports as American Metaphor
Tuesday, January 30 2024
The Super Bowl has become an unofficial American holiday. Though it may not be as important as Christmas or the Fourth of July it fixes everyone in the country on a single monumental event.
- Published in Features
Seeing America Through the Eyes of a Visitor
Saturday, January 20 2024
My daughter Catherine, now living in Great Britain, brought her boyfriend Simon to America for the holidays. He’s French-Swiss.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
A Visit to Bear Butte, South Dakota — Video Dispatch
Monday, January 15 2024
Clay reports from Bear Butte in South Dakota, a site sacred to the Lakota, Cheyenne and other Native American tribes. It’s near Sturgis, S.D., home of the famous annual motorcycle rally.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Don’t Touch That Dial: Tuning in to America
Sunday, January 14 2024
Over a lifetime of travel, I have learned that one of the best ways to examine the pulse of America is to listen to local broadcasting.
- Published in Features
America’s Unrelenting Love Affair With the Automobile
Sunday, January 07 2024
The American automobile is one of the most revolutionary (and liberating) technologies in human history.
- Published in Features
Snow Blowers, Walleye and Failing North Dakota 101
Monday, December 18 2023
It’s not easy being a North Dakotan ...
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Henry Kissinger
Monday, December 11 2023
Adviser to half a dozen presidents, especially Nixon, Kissinger was the only individual ever to serve as secretary of state (1973-77) and national security adviser (1969-75) at the same time.
- Published in Features
Rosalynn Carter
Sunday, December 03 2023
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter didn’t possess the glamour of the Kennedys, or the charisma and ambition of the Clintons, yet Rosalynn Carter stood out as one of the strongest first ladies in American history. Assertive and impactful, she rightfully takes her place alongside Eleanor Roosevelt.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
On the Anniversary of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy
Wednesday, November 29 2023
On the 60th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, are we any closer to answers? And how might things be different in our country were it not for that fateful event?
- Published in Dispatches from the Road