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The Middle Distance 1/18/13: The Only Possible Grace

On January 17, 2013 By

The Middle Distance 1.18.13: The Only Possible Grace

My friend Cate said she squirmed through the first half of Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogen’s comedy film The Guilt Trip, seeing a bit too much of herself in Streisand’s character, Joyce, an unrelentingly overbearing Jewish mother.

My sister and I saw the film [...]

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The Middle Distance 1/11/13: All The Light We Used to Have

On January 11, 2013 By

The Middle Distance 1.11.13: All The Light We Used to Have

Nearly every wall of my mother’s house is lined with tables, bookcases, or a chest with drawers. And every time I come for a stay, I go through all of those drawers, one at a time.

Before the sun is up, Mama picks [...]

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Blue Nights

The Middle Distance 1/4/13: Blue Nights

On January 4, 2013 By

The Middle Distance 1.4.13: Blue Nights

Here is an African proverb that showed up in my email inbox on December 31: “Those who love you are not fooled by mistakes you have made or dark images you hold about yourself. They remember your beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness when you [...]

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The Middle Distance, 12/21/12: Reweaving the Social Fabric

On December 21, 2012 By

The Middle Distance 12.21.12: Reweaving the Social Fabric

This week’s mini-blizzard provided respite I’d been hoping for — no appointments, too cold to even think of going outside voluntarily, and streets packed with snow. I stayed in with the dogs, reading and cleaning and baking a dense chocolate cake scented with cloves [...]

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monarch butterfly migration 14

The Middle Distance 12/14/12: In A Fractured World

On December 14, 2012 By


The Middle Distance 12/14/12

Last night on a downtown street, someone busted out the front passenger window of my car to dig around inside it. Whoever it was — a passerby who, conveniently, had a brick or a big rock in his hand — found a wallet stuffed with essential identification, [...]

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This photograph was taken by the author via the technology of an iPhone.

The Middle Distance 12/7/12: The Image Becomes a Phantom

On December 7, 2012 By

The Middle Distance 12.7.12: The Image Becomes a Phantom

In her treatise on photography, Susan Sontag said, “Today everything exists to end in a photograph.” Witness any public event in the 21st century, crowd members’ arms extended outward with smartphones pointed in every direction and understand how prophetic that statement was way back in [...]

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"Unknown Woman" by Alvaro Cardona-Hine, 1993

The Middle Distance 11/30/12: Unknown Woman

On November 30, 2012 By

The Middle Distance 11.30.12: Unknown Woman

She resides in a painting — a simple stretched canvas, unframed — emerging from a slate blue background, her hair and dress the same silver-gray. Her breasts sag low, as if from the natural weight of years.

She hung in a corner of the bedroom wherever I lived [...]

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Tobacco Farm

The Middle Distance, 11/16/12: The Scent of Smoke

On November 15, 2012 By

The Middle Distance 11.16.12: The Scent of Smoke

It is nearly Thanksgiving and in the early mornings my turn-of-the-20th century neighborhood smells like wood smoke. Nights are cold, the neighbors cranking up their fireplaces and wood stoves. A deadly summer wildfire season has put the fear of God and flame in most [...]

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The Middle Distance, 11/9/12: “Honey, It’s Jest Foo-ood”

On November 9, 2012 By

The Middle Distance 11.9.12: “Honey, It’s Jest Foo-ood”

In a parallel life, I think I might have been a cafeteria lady, baking industrial sized trays of yeast rolls every morning in a stainless steel kitchen, ladeling out clouds of mashed potatoes and smothering them with milk gravy.
Last Sunday I spent [...]

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Gowanus Rainbow

The Middle Distance, 11/2/12: On The Worrying End

On November 1, 2012 By

In this week’s episode of The Middle Distance, Kathryn Eastburn wonders where to best place her worry during the Frankenstorm.

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henriksen-chalkboard-510x338

The Middle Distance 10/26/12: Doin’ the Math

On October 26, 2012 By

In this week’s episode of The Middle Distance, Kathryn Eastburn embraces the obsessive mathematics of aging.

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The Denver City Battery with their Gatling Guns, December 1896. Photographer unknown. Courtesy of Special Collections, Pikes Peak Library District. Image Number: 257-7892.

The Middle Distance, 10/19/12: The Things We Don’t Want to Talk About

On October 18, 2012 By

In this week’s episode of The Middle Distance, Kathryn Eastburn tugs at the long tail of gun violence and its current literature.

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“At Prayer? by Myron Wood, November 1965. Copyright Pikes Peak Library District, courtesy of Special Collections. Image Number: 002-5960.

The Middle Distance, 10/12/12: The Struggle for Faith

On October 12, 2012 By

In this week’s Middle Distance, Kathryn Eastburn ruminates on the struggle for faith.

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Nasturtiums

The Middle Distance, 10/5/12: October Light

On October 5, 2012 By

In this week’s episode of The Middle Distance, Kathryn Eastburn gathers seeds from her garden and remembers the autumn of her twins’ birth.

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DanChile

The Middle Distance, 9/28/12: A Hand for Farmer Dan

On September 28, 2012 By

In this week’s episode of The Middle Distance, Kathryn Eastburn celebrates locavore and farmer Dan Hobbs on the occasion of his Palmer Land Trust Conservation Award.

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"Halloween Celebrants" by Stan Payne, October 30, 1953. Courtesy of Special Collections, Pikes Peak Library District. Image Number: 004-10648.

The Middle Distance, 9/21/12: The Season of Disappearing

On September 21, 2012 By

In this week’s episode of The Middle Distance, Kathryn Eastburn sees her late sister through the eyes of a ghost costume.

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[Unidentified School], date and photographer unknown. Courtesy of Special Collections, Pikes Peak Library District. Image Number: 001-2429.

The Middle Distance, 9/14/12: Back to School

On September 14, 2012 By

In this week’s episode of The Middle Distance, Kathryn Eastburn walks back into her second grade classroom.

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Civil Rights image

The Middle Distance, 9/7/12: Embarrassing to Remember

On September 7, 2012 By

In this week’s episode of The Middle Distance, Kathryn Eastburn unearths a moment in civil rights history that happened right under her nose.

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The Middle Distance 8/31/12: Toy Camera

On August 31, 2012 By

In this week’s episode of The Middle Distance, Kathryn Eastburn looks through the blurry lens of a toy camera into the past.

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phyllis-diller

The Middle Distance, 8/24/12: May You Always Be

On August 23, 2012 By

In this week’s episode of The Middle Distance, Kathryn Eastburn stares into the eyes of a toothless flasher in a dirty raincoat.

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Children playing jump rope in the Children's Folklore Area at the 1985 Florida Folk Festival - White Springs, Florida, State Archives of Florida, Floriday Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/110365.

The Middle Distance 8/17/12: Barefooter

On August 17, 2012 By

In this week’s episode of The Middle Distance, Kathryn Eastburn spreads her toes across years of shoeless memories.

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The Middle Distance 8.10.12: Memory of a Fantasy

On August 10, 2012 By

In this week’s episode of The Middle Distance, Kathryn Eastburn ties two summer films together with the unlikely string of far-fetched fantasy.

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Cybill Shepherd Miss Teenage Memphis

The Middle Distance 8/3/12: What Was I Thinking

On August 3, 2012 By


(Cybil Shepherd, center, after winning the Miss Teenage Mephmis Pageant in 1966)

The Middle Distance 8.5.11: What Was I Thinking?

What was I thinking? I was 15 years old and had moved with my family from the small town of Jackson to the big city of Memphis. I didn’t know anyone, [...]

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News

AP
Senate Approves $8 Billion Transportation Package
July 29, 2014 | NPR · The federal highway trust fund will run short of money starting this week unless Congress acts. But the Senate’s bill differs significantly from what the House passed last week.
 

Getty Images
The Hidden Costs Of Fighting Polio In Pakistan
July 29, 2014 | NPR · The effort to end polio is taking a toll on Pakistan’s already overstretched health system. With more children dying of measles and diarrhea, some question whether the focus on polio is worth it.
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AP
Israeli Bombing Ruins Gaza’s Only Power Plant
July 29, 2014 | NPR · Israel broadened its bombing campaign on Tuesday, bringing the Palestinian death toll above 1,200. Brief hope for a cease-fire was quickly dashed.
 

Arts & Life

Out Of Ukraine, This ‘Suitcase’ Packs An Immigrant’s Story With Humor
July 29, 2014 | NPR · Ari Shapiro talks with first-time novelist Yelena Akhtiorskaya about her book, Panic in a Suitcase.
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ABC
Sex And The Single Churl: Another ‘Bachelorette’ Finale Gets Weird
July 29, 2014 | NPR · Monday night’s Bachelorette finale went in a very unusual direction for a show that usually denies the degree to which it’s about sex.
 

In ‘Blue Eyed Boy,’ Author Reveals Long Recovery From Facial Burns
July 29, 2014 | NPR · Robert Timberg, who was disfigured by a land mine as a Marine in Vietnam, went on to become a successful journalist. His new memoir Blue Eyed Boy charts his struggle to recover from his wounds.
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Music

Courtesy of the artist
Jenny Lewis On World Cafe
July 29, 2014 | WXPN · For the U.S. release, singer-songwriter John Grant fashioned English lyrics to go with the Icelandic musician’s melodies. For our Vintage Cafe today, Ásgeir sings live in the World Cafe studios.
Windows Media
 

Courtesy of the artist
A Fond Farewell From An Old Memphis Maverick
July 29, 2014 | NPR · “Cowboy” Jack Clement produced and wrote songs for the likes of Johnny Cash and George Jones. On his final album, the late visionary reclaims some of those tunes and makes them his own.
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Courtesy of the artists
New Mix: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Join Fences, Plus Zola Jesus, Sun Kil Moon, More
July 29, 2014 | NPR · On this week’s All Songs Considered, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis collaborate with fellow Seattle band Fences, plus new music from Frazey Ford, Spider Bags, Zola Jesus, GOAT and more.
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