Gays in the Military: Don’t Ask Don’t Tell
This is a story I did the weekend of October 10-11 2009 connected with a gay rights march on the Capitol, especially as regards gays in the military. Here’s the intro I used for the piece: Demonstrations are expected this weekend in Washington as groups of active and former service members and their supporters urge […]
Death n’ Stuff at the “New York Times” Obit Desk
After articles about the President and “dog bites man,” the obituaries are among the most popular articles the New York Times features. Part news story, part profile, obits attempt to sum up a person’s life and significance, and no more. Indeed, how many “column inches” a person is expected in the paper to get when […]
The “Green Tortoise” Bus: Making the Miracle
A direct descendent of the Ken Kesey’s and the Merry Pranksters’ bus “Further,” and the Grey Rabbit buses that criss-crossed America during the late 1960s and 70s, “The Green Tortoise” is now a full fledged tour company that totes mostly young people to America’s greatest well-known and offbeat locales. They live on the bus, which […]
Black “Born Again” Christian Hair Salons
The Bible says that a woman’s hair is a glory to her, and they take that quite literally at several African American beauty salons that are springing up in the Washington DC and other urban areas. Come with me on my visit to a salon where being “born again,” amazing hair-dos and “prayerful” and joyous […]
Masonry as a Spiritual Path for Men
The Masons have long been the subject of curiosity, derision, persecution and admiration for their tight brotherhood, which claims millions of members worldwide, and which has been a mainstay for most American presidents and untold numbers of movers and shakers. The purported “secrecy” of their rites and symbols, which are sometimes riffs on the belief […]
The Status of Women in Israel (NPR 1990)
Between Zionism, Socialism, Feminism, Judaism, the Holocaust, and all the American, Eastern European, Middle Eastern and Asian cultural influences that compete for primacy as models for women in Israel, their status and self-image is deeply multi-layered and complex. This half hour documentary, which I completed for National Public Radio back in the early 1990s, offers […]