AltWeeklies Wire
The Weathermen's Ticking Time Bombnew
The investigation into a cop killing in the '70s leads to a Chicago law professor involved in the early stages of Barack Obama’s political career.
Nukes Mean Mines: Are We Digging a New Toxic Legacy Before the Last One's Filled In?new
The risks involved in uranium mining and processing should be a starting point for any debate about the promise and peril of nuclear power. The aftermath of our last uranium boom still echoes loudly in South Texas.
San Antonio Current |
Greg Harman |
09-17-2009 |
Environment
Fall Nonfiction: Tomes From The 'Fact' Departmentnew
It's the economy, stupid. Or maybe politics or literature. Fall nonfiction goes wide and deep, so plan for some marathon reading.
Boston Phoenix |
Barbara Hoffert |
09-17-2009 |
Books
The Clash Between the Black Panthers and the Santa Ana Police, 40 Years Laternew
"I think people want to forget this," former Orange County Black Panther head Daniel Lynem says. "If they could wipe it from the history books, they would. And for the most part, they have."
We Found the First Jackson Five Recording, and It's Earlier Than Anyone Thoughtnew
This was supposed to be the story of the Jackson Five's first single, cut in Chicago in 1967. But while writing it, we picked up the trail of a tape nobody knew existed: the earliest known studio recording of Michael Jackson and his brothers.
Chicago Reader |
Jake Austen |
09-14-2009 |
Music
The 1969 Texas International Pop Festival is History's Forgotten Festivalnew
This entire summer, pop culture has been inundated with Woodstock nostalgia. But another landmark festival happened just weeks later. While Texas International Pop Festival's attendance was quite a bit smaller than Woodstock's, it was still a lot of folks, perhaps the largest public gathering in the state to date.
Houston Press |
Chris Gray |
09-08-2009 |
Music
Cartoon: The New New Worldnew
What would old-time adventurers have done if they had faced the same fearful climate we face today? Try to get anything new off the ground, and everyone is willing to talk, but no one has the guts to put their money on the line. Instead, you get fed a line about the Internet, social networking, and the like. Will anything ever get done in the future?
The Stories in 'Woman From Shanghai' Survey Mao's Prison Systemnew
Woman From Shanghai: Tales of Survival from a Chinese Labor Camp is Xianhui Yang's first book translated into English and a record of the extremities endured by Mao Zedong's prisoners at Jiabiangou.
The Georgia Straight |
David Chau |
08-31-2009 |
Nonfiction
Depression-Era North Carolina String Band is Generously Anthologized on New Two-CD Setnew
The subtitle of the anthology, The Complete Recordings of the Red Fox Chasers (1928-31), is truthful: The two discs contain the entire recorded output of Brooks, Miles, A.P. Thompson and Bob Cranford.
The Unexpected Angles and Concluding Twists in 'Mirrors' Keep Readers Hookednew
Galeano regales us with tales from our shared history in an inclusive manner, from cultural creation myths to major historical figures and inventions to significant current events. It is a truism that history is written by the victors; what if, Galeano seems to ask, history were told instead by the vanquished, the oppressed and the downtrodden of all cultures and times?
The Texas Observer |
Liliana Valenzuela |
08-26-2009 |
Nonfiction
The R&B of 'Soul Power' Rumbles in the Junglenew
The "Zaire '74" concert now serves as a kind of a footnote to the "Rumble in the Jungle," but the 35-year-old concert footage and behind-the-scenes moments make Soul Power feel like a backstage pass to a now overlooked musical event.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
08-25-2009 |
Reviews
Recent Raids Shed Light on New Mexican Looting Syndicatenew
Using undercover sources, agents from the FBI and the US Bureau of Land Management spent more than two years infiltrating a tight-knit community of looters in New Mexico who dig up graves and pillage archaeological sites on public lands, then sell the items they find to dealers and collectors.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Laura Paskus |
08-20-2009 |
History
For the Society for Creative Anachronism, Playing with Swords is Part of a Lessonnew
Don't call them geeks, call them history lovers. Members of the Society for Creative Anachronism often get pegged as Renaissance fair actors, but they prefer to think of themselves as experiential learners who happen to wear armor.
Boise Weekly |
Deanna Darr |
08-19-2009 |
Recreation
In 'Hound Dog,' Songwriting Duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller Remember Redefining Postwar Pop Musicnew
Hound Dog: The Leiber and Stoller Autobiography is a delightful read. Both men are terrific storytellers, witty and succinct, with a sharp eye for the telling detail.
Baltimore City Paper |
Geoffrey Himes |
08-18-2009 |
Nonfiction
After 75 Years, the Mystery of Young Nature Writer Everett Ruess Has Likely Been Solvednew
Everett was last seen by a sheepherder near Escalante, Utah, on Nov. 19, 1934. Four months later, his burros were found southeast of Escalante in Davis Gulch, and in a nearby cave, where the wanderer made his last camp, searchers found his footprints and discarded food cans. But Everett himself had vanished. He was 20.
Tucson Weekly |
Leo W. Banks |
08-12-2009 |
History
