Lisa Mullenneaux: The Raft of the Medusa
Today when newspapers carry daily reports of migrants drowning in capsized vessels, Géricault’s achievement, The Raft of the Medusa (1819), is the perfect metaphor for human refuse pushed aside and ignored by the state.
George Lakey: Mass direct action might be the only way to stop Trump from stealing the election
Authoritarian rulers fear peaceful resistance above all else.
Jennifer Ho: With Kamala Harris, Americans yet again have trouble understanding what multiracial means
While the debates about Harris’ racial identities may seem new given the recent media attention focused on her, they are similar to the commentary other high-profile mixed-race people have received.
Paul Christensen: The Grinding Gears of Time
Trump’s house of cards is built on ruses and Iago-like deceptions, a palace of flimsy lies waiting for the door to fly open and a gust of honest wind to sweep them all away.
Video: Why do whales sing?
This short animated film, produced by Stephanie Sardelis of the Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada, decodes the evocative melodies composed by the world’s largest mammals.
Henry Beston: A Year of life on the Great Beach of Cape Cod
The three great elemental sounds in nature are the sound of rain, the sound of wind in a primeval wood, and the sound of outer ocean on a beach. I have heard them all, and of the three elemental voices, that of ocean is the most awesome, beautiful and varied.
C. Christine Fair: Myanmar’s Lady of Genocide
In 2015, Myanmar, a country controlled by militant Buddhists, began an organized process of genocide against the Rohingya, a Muslim minority. Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader who promised to protect them, has facilitated the genocide.
John Clare: The Thunder Mutters
The thunder mutters louder & more loud
With quicker motion hay folks ply the rake
Brett Wilkins: Democratic Data Firm Predicts Post-Election ‘Chaos’ Over False Trump Landslide
Preponderance of mail-in votes means early results may show Trump with a substantial lead that he’ll likely lose as absentee ballots are tallied.
Video: September 1, 1939, By W.H. Auden. Read by Doug Anderson
There is no such thing as the State
And no one exists alone;
Hunger allows no choice
To the citizen or the police;
We must love one another or die.
Mark Gruenberg: Trump’s message to white supremacists — It’s OK to gun down protesters
The danger that more armed right-wing thugs will take to the streets and shoot people is now a very real threat all across the country.
Video: Nora Atkinson | Why Art Thrives at Burning Man
Craft curator Nora Atkinson takes us on a trip to Nevada’s Black Rock Desert to see the beautifully designed and participatory art of Burning Man, revealing how she discovered there what’s often missing from museums: curiosity and engagement.
Audio: Gil Scott-Heron | Home Is Where the Hatred Is
Home is where the needle marks
Try to heal my broken heart
Emily Dickinson: She dealt her pretty words like Blades
She dealt her pretty words like Blades–
How glittering they shone—
And every One unbared a Nerve
Or wantoned with a Bone—
