Making moonshine with Roger Lee “Buck” Nance
“Listen,” says Nance. “It sounds like rain on a roof.” And it really does. That, it turns out, is the sound of moonshine.
by Glen Herbert Continue reading Making moonshine with Roger Lee “Buck” Nance
Singing with Si Kahn
Si Kahn first learned of the power of song—perhaps like so many in the 60s—from his work in activism. In his book Creative Community Organizing: A guide for rabble rousers, activists, and quiet lovers of justice, he writes about his experience as a skinny, dewy kid from the north on the front lines of the burgeoning … Continue reading Singing with Si Kahn
“Girl”
Winning Entry, Massey Lectures contest, fall 2015 by Glen Herbert Margaret MacMillan’s 2015 CBC Massey Lectures were about people who have left a mark on their own time, and on ours. Inspired by the lectures, listeners were asked: Who you think will be most remembered fifty years from now? Who will have the greatest impact on our times, and on the … Continue reading “Girl”
The Icy Mountains of Pluto
New close-up images of a region near Pluto’s equator reveal a giant surprise: a range of youthful mountains rising as high as 11,000 feet (3,500 meters) above the surface of the icy body. The mountains likely formed no more than 100 million years ago — mere youngsters relative to the 4.56-billion-year age of the solar … Continue reading The Icy Mountains of Pluto
The best old-time album you’ll hear this year
Folk music is a lot more like golf than you might think, were you ever to think this kind of thing. The more muscle you put into it, the more erratic your game becomes. You can’t force it. You need to set your grip, and your stance, and not mess with them. Keep your head … Continue reading The best old-time album you’ll hear this year
Rethinking Appalachia
Phil Jamison Hoedowns, Reels and Frolics: Roots and branches of Southern Appalachian Dance University of Illinois Press by Glen Herbert Alex Ross wrote recently in the New Yorker that “when classical-music fans hear that a new Hollywood production has a scene set at the opera or the symphony, they reflexively prepare to cringe. Typically, such scenes give a klutzy … Continue reading Rethinking Appalachia
Building a banjo, changing the world
How a tiny shop changed the landscape of musical instrument manufacturing in North America.
by Glen Herbert
Everything you know about addiction is wrong
The opposite of addiction is not sobriety. The opposite of addiction is connection.
By Johann Hari
Continue reading Everything you know about addiction is wrong
The Howls of August
“The woman who lived next door decided that bird-watching might keep me from pestering her daughter and my sister. How could she have known that the act of peering through her binoculars at the orioles nesting in her elms would help fan a spark of interest into a lifelong passion?”
By Michael Runtz Continue reading The Howls of August
Living in the moment with Adolphous Greely
Twenty-five men, 350 pounds of supplies, and a chance to change the world.
by Glen Herbert
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