What Does It Mean to Listen to America?

The art of listening and genuine communication to a thriving democracy.
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Meriwether Lewis at work on his journals. The renowned explorer was frustratingly inconsistent in keeping an ongoing record of his historic journey across the continent. (Illustration created by Clay Jenkinson using the AI tool Chat GPT)

Exploring the Ohio River with Captain Lewis

Following the path of Meriwether Lewis, Clay notes that while the famous explorer could be an outstanding journal writer, he was frustratingly unreliable in keeping a daily account of his transcontinental travels. No known journals exist for about half of the 28-month expedition.
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Fear and Loathing at the DOT

Registering the new pickup truck. This, too, is America.
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Clay Jenkinson Book Club

More About Our Book Club – Video Dispatch

You can learn more about our LTA Book Club in this short video dispatch from Clay. Be sure to join our first zoom meeting for book club members on July 10, 2025. 4:30…
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Reading America’s Rivers

Tracing America’s great rivers this summer along the Lewis and Clark Trail, Clay rediscovers the power and beauty of William Least Heat-Moon’s forgotten classic, River-Horse: A Voyage Across America.
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At the RV Park. (Shutterstock)

A Few Reflections on RV Life

A short report on the RV Life.
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Launching This July – The Listening to America Book Club

The Listening to America Book Club is coming soon.
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Memorial to Enslaved Laborers at University of Virginia — Video Dispatch

On his recent visit to the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Clay visited the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers on campus. Dedicated in 2021, the memorial commemorates the estimated 4,000 enslaved people who worked on the University between 1817 and 1865.
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University of Virginia: The Architecture of Education and Democracy — Video Dispatch

Thomas Jefferson conceived and designed the University of Virginia as a unique “Academic Village” where students and professors would live and learn together.
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The Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers join, forming the headwaters of the Ohio River in Pittsburg, Penn. The Ohio River then flows southwestward, eventually joining the Mississippi at Cairo, Illinois.

Following the Ohio River on the Lewis and Clark Trail

One of America’s truly grand rivers, The Ohio ranks eighth in length in the United States but second in volume.
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