In preparing today’s Substack column on Secretary of State Marco Rubio, I got to thinking about a phrase all of use at one time or another, in one form or another: “You know better. . . . He knows better. . . . She knows better. . . . You should know better.” It might … Continue reading “You know better, Marco Rubio”
Out of print: In 1940, stores had sales, but not on Memorial Day
In this third exploration of my stack of 85-year-old Baltimore newspapers, I’m posting just advertisements from editions of The Sun and Evening Sun. It’s Memorial Day, a solemn national holiday that has been commercialized with retail sales — and lots of advertising — since 1980. Research by Voice of America suggests that Memorial Day sales … Continue reading Out of print: In 1940, stores had sales, but not on Memorial Day
Strange interlude: What I heard on the ride home
I could tell from the way he decorated the inside of his sedan that the Uber driver was a fan of professional basketball. So, as is my habit, I struck up a conversation. I found the driver congenial, talkative and informative. He got me up to date on the National Basketball Association playoffs. He spoke … Continue reading Strange interlude: What I heard on the ride home
River log: Being there when it happens
I was once on a river when a tree fell -- or a large part of a tree, at least. It was one of those quiet spring afternoons on the Big Gunpowder Falls in Baltimore County. I was fishing alone, standing in grass on the bank, tying a new fly to my leader. The only … Continue reading River log: Being there when it happens
A century-old sycamore: Pardon me while I stare
There are some old photographs, hanging in libraries and published in books, of the final days of giant trees that lived hundreds of years in the East before the pioneers and colonists arrived, before the farmers and lumberjacks, before the railroads and the highways -- way back, in the words of Gordon Lightfoot, "when the … Continue reading A century-old sycamore: Pardon me while I stare
Despite Trump’s attempt to whitewash history, five new sites are added to the Underground Railroad network
Despite recent anti-DEI efforts by the Trump administration to downplay the roles of Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad in American history, five new sites in Maryland have been listed in the National Park Service’s Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program. That brings to 97 the number of Maryland sites associated with Tubman and others … Continue reading Despite Trump’s attempt to whitewash history, five new sites are added to the Underground Railroad network
Out of print: The Baltimore Sun of September 1940
Second in a series This sampling from my stash of old Baltimore newspapers comes from the Sun of Labor Day weekend, 1940, bringing news of a fatal plane crash in Virginia, with a U.S. senator (and suspected Nazi sympathizer) among the victims; Nazi Germany bombing England; a tropical storm hitting Maryland and flooding Baltimore streets; … Continue reading Out of print: The Baltimore Sun of September 1940
Beginner’s luck at hand-feeding a chickadee
On a whim of the moment, I put some black-oil sunflower seeds in my right hand and held them out with the hope that a black-capped chickadee might take them. I stood between a bird feeder and a hemlock tree. Two chickadees darted through the air and landed in the hemlock. This is how they … Continue reading Beginner’s luck at hand-feeding a chickadee
Leaving Saigon: A Baltimore Sun correspondent looks back 50 years to the final days of the Vietnam War
Arnold "Skip" Isaacs was among correspondents who covered the Vietnam War for The Baltimore Sun. He was there 50 years ago this week when Saigon fell, bringing an end to the long U.S. military involvement in Southeast Asia. The massive and chaotic U.S. helicopter evacuation began on April 29, 1975, and North Vietnamese forces took … Continue reading Leaving Saigon: A Baltimore Sun correspondent looks back 50 years to the final days of the Vietnam War
Noted passing: A Baltimore native who wrote the book, now banned by Trump, on white nationalists
More than 30 years ago, when the Skinheads were a thing and one of them established headquarters at a house in Baltimore, Leonard Zeskind was the expert we turned to for the full story. Who were these guys handing out leaflets in Hampden? What was their movement all about? Where did such openly racist young … Continue reading Noted passing: A Baltimore native who wrote the book, now banned by Trump, on white nationalists
Dan Rodricks 