Down the Salmon: A River Journal
Tuesday, September 19 2023
Every summer I lead a cultural tour on the Lewis and Clark Trail in Montana and Idaho. Usually, we canoe through the White Cliffs section of the Missouri for a couple of days, regroup, head west, and then climb up to the ancient Lolo Trail. But occasionally we switch things up by floating the Salmon, the “River of No Return.” This was such a summer.
- Published in Features
Clay’s Reading List: The Buffalo and American West
Monday, September 18 2023
With Ken Burns’ new film The American Buffalo airing October 16 on PBS, Clay recommends a few books on the bison, Great Plains and American West.
- Published in Books
At Gate A6 on 22nd Anniversary of September 11
Monday, September 11 2023
I’m sitting at gate A6 at Jacksonville International Airport in Florida. Today is the 22nd anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
The American Buffalo: Past and Future — Video Dispatch
Monday, September 11 2023
A video dispatch from my visit to Theodore Roosevelt National Park’s North Unit, where buffalo roam the Great Plains today.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Slings and Arrows of Teaching Shakespeare
Thursday, September 07 2023
One Florida school system will only allow classroom study of excerpts from some Shakespeare plays in its high school curriculum because it is afraid they will violate the new state laws forbidding the inclusion of taboo issues in the curriculum.
- Published in Features
President Jefferson and the Big Cheese
Tuesday, September 05 2023
The recent record-setting auction of a $32,000 Spanish cheese reminds Clay of the curious tale of Thomas Jefferson’s 1,235-pound Mammoth Cheese.
- Published in Features
Labor Day on the Glorious Little Missouri River — Video Dispatch
Tuesday, September 05 2023
I visited the Little Missouri River in the Badlands of North Dakota over the Labor Day weekend. Of all the rivers I know, the Little Missouri is the most sacred to me.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne
Friday, September 01 2023
Katherine Rundell’s new book on the great English writer and cleric, John Donne is, among other things, a work of evangelism. Rundell says one of her goals is to get everyone to read some of Donne’s poetry. I could not agree more.
- Published in Books
The Long Dreamed Airstream Joins the Listening to America Team
Monday, August 28 2023
A new chapter in my life begins. For the next several years, I plan to spend about half of the year on the road with my new Airstream trailer for our big humanities initiative, Listening to America. My plan is to get out on the open road, see the vastness of America and report my findings to you.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
India’s First Lunar Landing and America’s Sense of Wonder
Thursday, August 24 2023
Today, I read in my news feed that India has successfully landed a probe on the south pole of the moon. Chandrayaan-3 touched down at 8:30 a.m. EDT, August, 23, 2023. U.S. news of the event seemed decidedly matter-of-fact.
- Published in Features