Essay Americana

Essay Americana provides insight into American life in the late 20th and early 21st centuries covering work, relationships, history, leadership, self-identity, philosophy, politics, and psychology.

Silent Bronze 02/12/2025

Silent Bronze What do we learn from our grandparents that we didn't get to know? This essay explores those questions of what we get when we ask if they would be proud of how we turned out. /episode/index/show/essayamericana/id/35249410

Hero? 11/10/2021

Hero? This essay is part of the series, "Asphalt Blackboard: Life Lessons from America's Highways." It examines how we are socially programed to respond to a crisis and what it means to be a hero. /episode/index/show/essayamericana/id/21123167

Season 2, Ep. 1 Stranger Relief at Thanksgiving 03/22/2020

Season 2, Ep. 1 Stranger Relief at Thanksgiving In this time of COVID-19, social distancing, and sheltering in place, why not look at family dynamics in the form of a major holiday? /episode/index/show/essayamericana/id/13650986

Comic Book Blues 10/01/2019

Comic Book Blues Art, pop culture, comic books, movies, tv, and compulsive behavior. This episode deals with all that, as well as taking a hard look at when we cut out parts of ourselves in order to "fit in" and what it means to reclaim parts of our personality we should have never let go. /episode/index/show/essayamericana/id/11462135

What's a Life Worth? 07/26/2019

What's a Life Worth? This month's essay looks at the fundamental question--how we determine the value of a life. /episode/index/show/essayamericana/id/10671845

Hallowed Ground 06/06/2019

Hallowed Ground What do we hold sacred? What is truly hallowed ground? A massive church that's been turned into a disco and two battlefields are the backdrop for this interesting essay about what we value and why. /episode/index/show/essayamericana/id/10069661

Nurse Logs 05/05/2019

Nurse Logs What do we owe the past? This essay, the third from “Asphalt Blackboard: Life Lessons form America’s Highways” series, explores that question from the only temperate rain forest in the world. /episode/index/show/essayamericana/id/9658337

Follow the Leader 03/23/2019

Follow the Leader Leadership. It's the Hoy Grail of the business world. It took a cold day in whitewater to teach how Americans' view leadership and a possible new approach. /episode/index/show/essayamericana/id/9113966

Unplugged 03/05/2019

Unplugged Changes to rural Montana, the Great American Road Trip, and becoming unmoored from you daily life all teaching something about life in the modern United States. /episode/index/show/essayamericana/id/8880521

Memorial Service 02/21/2019

Memorial Service A memorial service serves as the backdrop for a reflection on church culture and who gets to stand behind the alter. /episode/index/show/essayamericana/id/8737442

Holding onto Humanity 02/07/2019

Holding onto Humanity We see the end results on the television, but what's it like to cover a major tragedy? /episode/index/show/essayamericana/id/8561393

Walking on Sunshine 01/29/2019

Walking on Sunshine iTunes and Spotify have robbed us of something, but have they given us something in return? This essay explores the power of music, nostalgia, and technology and how each impacts the other and what it might mean to you. /episode/index/show/essayamericana/id/8434109

Hush 01/15/2019

Hush An evening at a nightclub with a journal ends up providing insight into what night clubs teach us about ourselves—the good, the bad, and our society as a whole. /episode/index/show/essayamericana/id/8260181

Essay Americana Episode 1 01/05/2019

Essay Americana Episode 1 This episode looks at the positive consequences of unlearning a well intentioned lie all mothers tell their children. /episode/index/show/essayamericana/id/8141720

Essay Americana

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