A Week of Toothsome Reading

Few predators rival the shark in fascination.  No matter how often we see them, or how much we read about them, humans are always eager to learn more, exhibiting a mixture of reverence, awe and fear.    All of which is to say, who can resist the notion...

Neptune’s Brood

The visionary adventure begun in Saturn’s Children continues to extend the legacy of Heinlein and other foundational dreamers.  

Sitting with Shakers

August 6: Mother Ann Lee and a handful of Shaker followers arrived in America on this day in 1774. The Shakers (the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing) found many applications of Mother Ann’s famous advice to “Put your hands to...

Bandstand Business

August 5: American Bandstand debuted on this day in 1957. While not the first television dance party, the Philadelphia-based show was the first to be broadcast live, daily, and nationally. The show “signaled the arrival of teenage culture in the...