FEATURES
Space: The Final and Unforgiving Frontier
Monday, February 19 2024
The inverted landing of the $125 million Japan Space Agency lunar probe makes us realize not what can go wrong but how many things must go exactly right for one of these incredibly complicated space missions to succeed.
- Published in Features
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
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
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
And Then There Were Six: A Tribute to Frank Borman
Monday, November 20 2023
I was saddened to learn of the death (November 7) of Frank Borman, the American astronaut who commanded the astonishing 1968 Apollo 8 mission to the moon. He was the oldest living astronaut.
- Published in Features
While Driving Across North Dakota on a Recent Sunday …
Friday, November 17 2023
Clay recently drove the back roads from Thompson to Bismarck, North Dakota. Far from interstates, he was intensely reminded about what he loves about the state he’s long called home.
- Published in Features
75 Years Later, Steinbeck’s Western Flyer Returns to Monterey
Monday, November 13 2023
The fishing boat that took the author and his friend Ed Ricketts on their famous expedition to the Gulf of California in 1940 was pulled literally from the ocean floor for an eight-year, $7 million makeover. Recently, it returned to Monterey Harbor, ready to return to work. Listening to America's special Steinbeck correspondent, Russ Eagle, was there to cover the event.
- Published in Features
The US Presidency and What Can Be Lost Between Administrations
Monday, November 06 2023
What happens in the gap between one administration and the next, especially when the outgoing president is unavailable? This “leadership gap” has had an intriguing influence on U.S. History.
- Published in Features
Some Thoughts on the Near-Extinction of the Buffalo
Tuesday, October 17 2023
Ken Burns’ new documentary The American Buffalo airs this week on PBS. Like everyone I’m eager to see how he explores the history surrounding this iconic creature.
- Published in Features