Metro CEO Art Leahy
In the Green Room
Who We Were
Creating a Mexican-Afro-Cuban-American Beat
The Rhythms I Play and Dance Collided on the American Continent—Then I Made Them My Own
The annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival was in full bloom on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. in late June. Audiences flocked to different stages and exhibits that shared the finest music cultures in the world. As I approached the workers’ trailer, I knew it was the last time I would hold my tarima (stomp box) and old zapateado shoes. I’d participated with my band Quetzal in a moving tribute concert to legendary folk singer Pete Seeger the previous evening, and …
Up For Discussion
Is There Anything Exciting About Buying Health Insurance?
Convincing the Uninsured to Sign Up for Obamacare Isn't an Easy Task, But Someone's Got to Do It
When Obamacare’s second open enrollment period started in November, leaders of Covered California (the state’s insurance marketplace) got on the road, spreading the word about health insurance options campaign-style: on a bus tour. With less time to sign up uninsured Californians—the deadline for new enrollees is February 15, 2015—the pressure is on to build on the remarkable success of the first enrollment period.
There are also new challenges afoot. Organizers will have to go deeper into communities and convince more people …
Nexus
Is That Boulder in Your Driveway From Outer Space?
I am a meteorite researcher and a cosmic killjoy. Although I spend most of my time analyzing extraterrestrial rocks to learn about the geological history of asteroids and the origin of the solar system, my …
In the Green Room
Molecular Biologist J. Craig Venter
In 2001, J. Craig Venter became the first scientist to sequence the human genome; most recently, he and his research team created the first self-replicating bacterial cell constructed entirely with synthetic DNA. Before participating in a …
Who We Were
Crashing the Turnstile at Knott’s Berry Farm
Many of my middle-school memories feature my cousin Efrem scooping my brother Adam and me up in his ride and taking us to Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park. Those were the best summers of …
Nexus
Are Two Presidents Better Than One?
Does America need more than one president?
The question comes to mind as we watch Barack Obama abandon cooperation in favor of strategies that bypass Republican obstruction on Capitol Hill. Obama’s approach is understandable, but turning …
The Voyage Home
A Stranger in Africa
As I stood in the humid, dank cell, I found myself hesitating a bit, peering down into the cavernous doorways of the male slave dungeon of Ghana’s Cape Coast Castle. It was April 2001, more …
Trade Winds
Stop Whining, Be Happy
In her classic reinterpretation of Western history, The Legacy of Conquest, Patricia Nelson Limerick writes of an entrepreneurial young man in St. Louis eager to get in on the 1849 Gold Rush. He hands over …
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