I first picked up Moon Shot after reading a quote from former astronaut Mike Massimino in an article about how to find happiness. That might seem like an odd place to find life advice—a man who’s been to space talking about how to find joy on Earth—but that’s what hooked me.
Mike said:

“Since going to space I’ve stopped complaining about the weather. Because in space, there is no weather…”

That line paused me—right in the middle of my Sunday walk on the Prairie Path, my bright pink … [Read more...] about Moon Shot

Consider this:

The U.S. incarcerates 1.8 million people, the highest per capita in the world.
The U.S. spends twice as much on crime and punishment as it does on social services.
By contrast, countries like Finland focus on rehabilitation, education, job training, and personal growth. Their incarceration rates are among the lowest in the world.

In Correction: Parole, Prison, and the Possibility of Change, Chicago author Ben Austen reveals the devastating truth about America’s … [Read more...] about Correction: Parole, Prison, and the Possibility of Change

This past Thursday, my husband, son, and I drove home from the Big Ten basketball tournament in Indianapolis where we had been cheering on our Northwestern Wildcats. My sister had treated us to incredible third-row seats, so we could hear the players talking to each other and see beads of sweat flying from their hair. The energy was electric.

And yet, as I looked around, I couldn’t help but notice the sheer amount of plastic cups and wasted food strewn under and around our seats. That’s … [Read more...] about Dream State

What can food tell us about the history of the South and the rise of southern cuisine? In John T. Edge’s book The Potlikker Papers, he writes that “During the antebellum era, slaveholders ate the greens from the pot, setting aside the potlikker for enslaved cooks and their families, unaware that the broth, not the greens, was nutrient rich.”

Using food as the centerpiece, Edge describes how stories about food illumine history. “On the long march to equality, struggles over food reflected and … [Read more...] about The Potlikker Papers