American History

Interview on Focal Point

May 2, 2012

I grew up with a transistor radio glued to my ear.  It’s no secret: I love radio.  So it’s always a pleasure to be interviewed on radio, most recently on Focal Point with Bryan Fischer on American Family Radio. You never know how a radio interview will go, which is why it’s so much fun.  In this case, we [...]

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Earl Scruggs: a Musically Rich Life

March 29, 2012

Earl Scruggs has left this world.  Called by some the “Prometheus of the Banjo,” he was a musical hero to many of us.  He’s credited with popularizing a style of picking (3-finger) that “super-charged” the banjo style. Tunes that our pepper our musical landscape today pay tribute to his and fiddler Lester Flatt’s career, particularly [...]

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Ranch Work and the Arts

February 16, 2011

My intention today was to write about my favorite academic resource, The Chicago Manual of Style, the most comprehensive guide for research, writing, and publishing in all of Western culture (as far as I’m concerned).  But instead, something came up in the cow pasture that reminded me how much the arts matter. I was trying [...]

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Saint Lucy in Downtown Philadelphia

December 13, 2010

Lucy, Lucia, Lux – it means “light,” and a celebration of light is certainly appropriate to Advent.  Santa Lucia, a young Sicilian girl, was martyred in the 4th Century.  Various stories about her have been handed down, but she is associated with light and with eyes.  Art depicting her often shows her holding a dish [...]

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