I wanted to alert my readers to a wonderful blog called the attic. Here is a brief description from the blog’s author,
Sick of the news? Come rummage in The Attic to find a kinder, cooler America. Here you’ll find common ground, not minefields. Updated weekly, The Attic features short profiles of American artists, writers, dreamers, inventors, visionaries, and more …
Time was when magazines I wrote for, Smithsonian and American Heritage, explored this space. But screens have silenced kinder, cooler Americans. The result is a nation of shrill voices. If you are world weary, skeptical, worried about this American “experiment,” join me in The Attic.
The blog is written by Bruce Watson, a regular contributor to Smithsonian, who has also written for American Heritage, the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, Nautilus, Yankee, and other publications. His books include Freedom Summer, Sacco and Vanzetti, and Bread and Roses (Viking). He has also written e-biographies of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. His most recent book, nominated for a Los Angeles Times Book Award, is Light: A Radiant History from Creation to the Quantum Age (Bloomsbury).
Every post on the site is written beautifully, filled with wonderful photos, tells an American story, and can be read in just a few minutes. I have read almost all of them and enjoyed every single one. Here is a small sample:
“THE WOMAN WHO WOVE THE VAXX” (about Jennifer Doudna, one of the scientists who helped create the life-saving Covid vaccines. Thank you, Dr. Doudna.)
“WALKING AMERICA WITH THE MASTER” (about Thoreau’s love of walking, one of my favorite pastimes.)
“NETWORK” — STILL MAD AS HELL” (about a great movie, and one of my favorites.)
“THE BOOK THAT LISTENED TO GIRLS” (about the voices of women which we so desperately need to hear, and a book I first read over 30 years ago.)
“LUCKIEST MAN” — THE GRACE OF LOU GEHRIG” (about Gehrig. I can still remember watching “The Pride of the Yankees” as a kid—bonus, you got to see Babe Ruth!)
“THE POET AND “THE ANSWER” (about Robinson Jeffers and his thoughts on transcending the ugliness of this world and reveling in the beauty of the universe.)
Bruce’s posts create a little bit of beauty in an oftentimes depressing world. I cannot recommend them more highly.
I’ve signed up for their weekly email. Thank you for the suggestion. I’ll never explain, never apologize for my search for a kinder, more gentle experience, such as I had with Charles Kuralt’s “On The Road” series, as well as Joseph Campbell’s lectures on Myths. Our smash-face pols vex my soul.
couldn’t agree more.
News has been hijacked by punditry. I will check this out; it sounds interesting. I usually wait until 2:00 in the afternoon and listen to the BBC on NPR to get a fair shake as to the status of our society-oh the irony. I obviously disregard FOX but I catch the other traditional outlets “punching down” to thwart the attacks on what I consider reasonable accounts of happenings. Their efforts seem to breed sensationalism. But I could be wrong-but I doubt it. Thanks for the heads up!