http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/10/23/opinion/campaign-stops/go-midwest-young-hipster.html?_r=1&referer=http://m.facebook.com/

Even as Hillary Clinton appears poised to win easily against a highly erratic candidate with a campaign in meltdown, a sobering reality awaits Democrats on Nov. 9. It seems likely that they will eke out at most a narrow majority in the Senate, but fail to pick up the 30 seats they need to reclaim the House. If they do manage to win a Senate majority, it will be exceedingly difficult to hold it past 2018, when 25 of the party’s seats must be defended, compared with eight Republican ones.

The Republican Party may seem in historic disarray, but it will most likely be able to continue to stymie the Democrats’ legislative agenda, perpetuating Washington’s gridlock for years to come.

https://www.thenation.com/article/its-in-the-best-interest-of-the-rich-to-help-reverse-extreme-inequality/

my first contribution to the Bitter Southerner Just an Old House — THE BITTER SOUTHERNER http://ow.ly/i2Oc305a0d7

http://www.thebluegrasssituation.com/read/alynda-lee-segarras-call-folk-singers-fall-love-justice-op-ed

You must be willing to come to folk music understanding that your journey has not been the only journey that deserves to be shared, that your truth is not universal, that there are other stories not being told. You must understand that the history we have been taught is a selected history. You must simply bear witness, not to be a spokesperson, but to share what it is you have seen. You have a unique role as a travelling musician. You are a story teller. You have driven through the ghettos that some call home while some drive past with locked car doors. Share the humanity that has been elevated in you by the struggle that was once hidden and is now filling the streets. Help others understand what they may not understand. Help them open themselves to others’ experience. Help the listener realize that the media stereotypes they have ingested are not the absolute truth. Help them expand their consciousness. You have the power to spread the words of justice. Take an active role by helping amplify the voices of people who are doing such dangerous and important work. Help undo the racism we are taught. Help reinvent the future. We do not have to continue this way. But make room, because there are more voices who are coming to share the table.

The October 2016 issue of Bluegrass Unlimited contains my latest feature with color photographs by Becky Johnson. It profiles the extraordinary music collector Tom Isenhour of Salisbury, NC.

https://artmenius.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/tom-isenhour-october-2016.pdf

http://www.newsobserver.com/entertainment/music-news-reviews/bluegrass-raleigh/article101894322.html

http://www.wsj.com/articles/this-bluegrass-jam-has-banjos-corny-jokes-and-a-side-of-fries-1466010162

http://arts.gov/news/2015/nea-selects-new-director-folk-and-traditional-arts

When I was in Maryland, Clifford Murphy truly impressed me as an excellent state folklorist and a delightful person. Congratulations on succeeding Barry Bergey.

http://theweek.com/articles/647871/america-needs-public-option-internet

Of course, blazing fast internet service today doesn’t nearly match the importance of electricity in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Internet connectivity is, however, increasingly necessary to live a normal life — to participate in the culture, to stay in contact with friends and family, and especially to run any sort of business. And just like in Johnson’s day, rural America is being left out, because private industry prizes profits over breadth and quality of service.

In his navy suit and thin-rimmed glasses, Mr. Freedman, a professor of medieval history at Yale University, doesn’t look the part of a provocateur, either. But for his new book, “Ten Restaurants That Changed America” (Liveright), he set out on a brash mission: culling through hundreds of thousands of restaurants, across a span of two centuries, to produce a list of what he considers the ten most influential.

The Magnificent 10: Restaurants That Changed How We Eat http://nyti.ms/2cX16Lk