AltWeeklies Wire
Let's Stop Arguing About the Civil Warnew
Instead of rehashing our disagreements about how the Civil War started, we should ask if there are lessons that can be learned from the conflict that are still applicable today. Although the specific issues may have changed, several others are still relevant.
Charleston City Paper |
Dwayne Green |
04-06-2011 |
Commentary
When it Comes to Arkansas Black History, Annie Abrams Has Just About Seen It Allnew
In an illustrated history of signal African-American events in the past half century, one person would be always in the picture: Annie Mable McDaniel Abrams.
Arkansas Times |
Leslie Newell Peacock |
02-25-2010 |
Race & Class
Art Collector and Preservationist Brooks Buxton Aims to Save Vermontnew
J. Brooks Buxton’s foreign acquisitions — among them 19th-century albumen photographs from the Middle East, Chinese ceramics and a Paleozoic-era trilobite from what is now Morocco — mingle with American paintings, decorative arts, heirloom furniture and books.
Seven Days |
Pamela Polston |
02-12-2010 |
Culture
Ideologues Take Full Advantage of America's Amnesia About Tom Painenew
"The idea that Glenn Beck and others whose ideas are opposite to Paine's have adopted him to distort his ideas is extremely disturbing, but not surprising," writes Alaine Lowell, executive director of the Thomas Paine Society.
Pasadena Weekly |
Kevin Uhrich |
11-16-2009 |
Commentary
As a Famous Desegregation Case Gets its Historical Due, One Family Feels Left Outnew
Mendez v. Westminster never made it into the official Orange County story, though, existing only in the historical margins of ethnic studies. But this wrong is finally being righted. But one plaintiff family -- the Ramirezes -- feel like they're being written out of this newly filled historical gap.
Professor Pellom McDaniels Wants to Move Kansas City's Black History Beyond Entertainmentnew
Most black school kids, he says, view entertainment -- being a professional athlete or a performer -- as the only form of success available to them. McDaniels, who happens to be a former NFL player, sees history as the key to breaking the cycle of poverty and opening a wider future.
Nirvana: Back in 'Bleach'new
The first Nirvana album was probably the last one you heard, but it marks a critical chapter in Seattle music history. It's worth going back to for a fresh -- or first -- listen, even two decades after the fact and long after grunge was laid to rest.
Seattle Weekly |
Chris Kornelis |
11-02-2009 |
Music
'A New Deal for Native Art' Explains How the Gov't Undermined Indigenous Art During the New Dealnew
Jennifer McLerran makes the case that administrators of New Deal Indian policy, particularly John Collier, then-commissioner of Indian Affairs, insisted on romanticizing pre-industrial forms of indigenous art rather than pushing native artists toward self-sufficiency.
Tucson Weekly |
Jarret Keene |
10-29-2009 |
Nonfiction
'Egg on Mao' Praises a Truly Brave Iconoclastnew
With the publication of Egg on Mao: The Story of an Ordinary Man Who Defaced an Icon and Unmasked a Dictatorship, Denise Chong has revived interest in the moral heroism of Lu Decheng and his friends Yu Zhijian and Yu Dongyue.
The Georgia Straight |
Alexander Varty |
10-19-2009 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
'Massacred For Gold' Rises Above the Usual History Book Formulanew
R. Gregory Nokes' investigation of the 1887 mass murder of more than 30 Chinese gold miners is a chronicle within a chronicle, explaining not only how and why the murders occurred but how the author had to sift through scant and often contradictory evidence to make sense of a crime.
Willamette Week |
Matt Buckingham |
10-14-2009 |
Nonfiction
How Today's Pot Debate is Like the Fall of Prohibitionnew
Law-enforcement maverick Norm Stamper noted "striking" parallels between Prohibition of a bygone era and today's drug debate. "Major difference? It took us only 13 years to end the former" over "essentially identical" reasons: violence, overdose deaths on bad "bathtub gin," public health and revenue.
San Diego CityBeat |
John R. Lamb |
10-07-2009 |
Drugs
A Race is on to Record the Untold Stories of Aging Holocaust Survivorsnew
Until the Iron Curtain parted, the Holocaust stories like Lupyan's and others' from the former Soviet republics went largely untold on the world stage. But now, there is an urgency to record survivors' stories while a dwindling number still are alive to tell them.
Metro Times |
Sandra Svoboda |
10-06-2009 |
History
Ken Burns Worships America's Spiritual Resource in His Latest Docnew
His PBS 12-hour epic The National Parks: America's Best Idea is a selective chronicle of the evolution of the National Parks system and the changing roles protected lands have played in American culture since Congress validated Yosemite in 1864.
Boston Phoenix |
Clif Garboden |
09-24-2009 |
TV
The StoryCorps Project Pursues Material in Colorado Springsnew
Made famous by NPR, the national nonprofit initiative has recorded interviews with more than 26,000 ordinary people in all 50 states.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Jill Thomas |
09-24-2009 |
History
'Our Noise' Tells the Story of Merge Records, and Tells it Wellnew
The book is remarkably candid; it thoroughly examines interpersonal and financial problems, not just triumphs. Because of the candor, we believe the portrayal of Merge as a genuinely noble label, with an uncommon blend of ethics, frugality and business savvy.
INDY Week |
Brian Howe |
09-18-2009 |
Nonfiction
