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Traveling with the WPA Guides - Smithsonian - This article about America and the 1930s WPA writers (see the full article here) grew into the Soul of A People documentary and book from Wiley & Sons, named one of the Best Books of 2009. Check out an excerpt from the book here and learn more at the Smithsonian Channel's site.
Watch the six-minute interview on The Book Studio. Ralph Ellison explores Harlem in the Village Voice.
Have a peek at 1934: A New Deal for Artists, a traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, at Smithsonian magazine online.
Read an interview with David in the newsletter of the Association for the Study of Literature & Environment (ASLE) here.
Nelson Algren and Richard Wright tangle with Chicago - in The American Scholar (now free in Downloads)
In The News
FDA considers the first genetically-engineered fish for the consumer market, in meetings this month. The AquaBounty salmon has been long in the research phase, but environmental and health groups say the process needs to be more open. Read the article in Environmental Health Perspectives.
Government Responds to Pressure from Small Farmers: U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced new rules to reduce advantages enjoyed by large firms. Read about the problems faced by Joel Salatin and other small farm owners in Does One Size Fit All? - Environmental Health Perspectives.
In May, Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul won the 2010 Cannes Palme d'Or, the first time a Thai film has ever received that award. David's profile of Apichatpong, a.k.a. Joe, appeared in Tricycle magazine, and shows the roots of his films in his home town in northeastern Thailand. Find it in downloads under 'More Articles'.
The MEDEA project, involving sharing of information obtained by the C.I.A. for environmental research, was revived this year, reports the New York Times. MEDEA's historic role in environmental security is described in this EHP article.
More Travel and History
Charles McManus and The Great Cork Experiment - When a huge fireball rose over Baltimore harbor, people suspected sabotage and said Charles McManus' cork business was over. Instead, he launched a decade-long drive to plant an indispensable tree across America. Clues to the story remain in Maryland.
Listen to David's interview on NPR's All Things Considered.
Agriturismo in Sicily Puts You on the Farm - The Washington Post
Studios of Two Masters in Wood - The Washington Post
West Virginia's Cranberry Bogs - The Washington Post
Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater - The Washington Post
Sinbad in China - Christian Science Monitor - Revisits Nanjing and the seven (or so) voyages of the explorer Zheng He, the original Sinbad.
Traffic in a Thai forest - Slow Trains
Ginseng, the Divine Root - Algonquin Books - Download the fact sheet
Ginseng, The Divine Root uncovers an epic tale of herbal medicine and the plant prized for centuries by emperors, healers, and smugglers. Collected by Daniel Boone, ginseng was one of North America's first major exports to Asia. The book tracks the plant through one season, following its wild ride from remote forests in Appalachia to markets in China, a journey laced with crime, myths, gourmet cuisine, pop culture, and continental drift. Learn more at Algonquin Books. Download recipes from the book and the original Smithsonian article as a PDF. Hear David on Good Food and A Chef's Table. Also hear NPR interviews on the Kojo Nnamdi Show, and Wisconsin Public Radio's Here On Earth. Read reviews in the Boston Globe and buy Ginseng, the Divine Root: The Curious History of the Plant That Captivated the World
Praise for Ginseng, the Divine Root:
A "fascinating tour... a master storyteller." —Library Journal
"An engaging cultural history." —The Brooklyn Eagle
"An intelligent, wide-ranging account." —Publishers Weekly
"One of those rare works that remind us what an endlessly surprising place the world is..." —The Boston Globe
The Chinese language edition is available here.
People
Monk on a Mission - Tricycle An unorthodox Buddhist monk shows abandoned children the power of kick-boxing and their own choices. Available in downloads.
Ahmet Ertegun's Coming of Age in Music - The Washington Post
The Wild Man at the Center of the World - Washington Post. What happened when Joaquin Miller built a cabin in the heart of the city?
The StoryCorps Booth - Smithsonian
Arts and Culture
Machado de Assis, Brazil's Wry Modernist - With the centennial of the death of the Father of Brazilian literature, Machado is gaining new fans. Brazilian musician Tom Zé weighs in. From Américas magazine, under Downloads.
Django Reinhardt Festival - Slow Trains
The Guitar Lab near Galax, Virginia - The Washington Post
Paderewski's Piano - Smithsonian
Krispy Kreme's Ring King - Smithsonian
Business and Other Wild Things
China's Growing Organic Market - Environmental Health Perspectives - Globalization has created an opening for organic exports and China has stepped into it in a big way. Now its domestic demand for healthy food is gaining ground.A Sharper Focus on a Killer - Forbes Asia - Aurora MRI gives a new way of attacking breast cancer with early detection, but is it right for all women?
Keeping A Log - Forbes Asia - A look at an Indonesian company as it turns around its dirty reputation, and the market forces pushing the forest industry to go green.
Certified Coffee: Does the Premium Pay Off? - Environmental Health Perspectives - A look at whether Fair Trade and Organic eco-labels make a difference where the coffee grows.
A Ginseng Maverick Takes on Hong Kong - Forbes Asia Growing Green Roofs, City by City - Environmental Health Perspectives - From the Pacific Northwest to Washington, DC, local policies are spurring green-roof projects. The cities have their own reasons, it turns out. Click here for the Chinese edition.
