DISPATCHES FROM THE ROAD
Chicago, Launch Point for Historic Route 66 — Video Dispatch
Sunday, March 24 2024
Clay visits the eastern takeoff point for historic Route 66 in downtown Chicago. Now largely superseded by the Interstate Highway system, Route 66 still looms large in American history and mythology.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
A Beached Whale: Then and Now
Sunday, March 10 2024
Recently a humpback whale washed ashore at Virginia Beach. Even in death, it’s a magnificent creature. The beached whale reminded me of an incident during the winter of 1805-1806 at Fort Clatsop on the Pacific Ocean.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Printed Maps and an Atlas: Old School, Indeed!
Friday, February 23 2024
We’re hard at work detailing plans to follow in the footsteps of John Steinbeck’s journey chronicled in Travels With Charley.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
My Life as a Space Junkie
Sunday, February 18 2024
I’ve been captivated by humanity’s exploration of the heavens since I was a boy growing up on the plains of western North Dakota.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Fort Dilts, North Dakota — Video Dispatch
Friday, February 09 2024
Clay takes us to Fort Dilts, North Dakota, a hastily-made sod fort built in 1864 by a party of would-be gold miners to fend off attacks by the Lakota. However more perspectives to the story should be considered.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
On Oppenheimer — Video Dispatch
Monday, February 05 2024
Clay reads from an essay about Robert Oppenheimer by the author Richard Rhodes.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
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
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
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