John Taylor Gatto's History Lesson

     I hope that you are already acquainted with John Taylor Gatto and his influence in the on-going conversation about American education.


     As his Wikipedia entry states, he is "a retired American school teacher with nearly 30 years experience in the classroom, and author of several books on education. He is an activist critical of compulsory schooling, of the perceived divide between the teen years and adulthood, and of what he characterizes as the hegemonic nature of discourse on education and the education professions."


     Some of his friends recently organized a lengthy interview with him, and have released it on the internet.  A close friend of mine discovered it and called me.  I must watch it, he said -- even though it is five hours long.


     I did, and my friend was right -- it was well worth it.  In a very warm, engaging, and informal way, Mr. Gatto talks with his interviewer on a wide variety of subjects ranging from education and philosophy to people and current events.  I learned plenty I hadn't known before.


     Even if you can't spare the time to listen to the entire interview, I urge you to check in to some of the links here -- you'll be glad to add him to your circle of Internet friends.  He is a treasure.


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Wikipedia entry on John Taylor Gatto

His website

Find him on YouTube

"The Ultimate History Lesson" (the interview) 

Index of articles he has had published at Lew Rockwell's website

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If you have some thoughts about Mr. Gatto, or his subject matter, I urge you to comment.

The Troubled Bridge Over The Water

     . . . that is, the Sherman Minton Bridge over the Ohio River, joining New Albany, Indiana with Louisville, Kentucky . . .

     . . . after over five months of complete closure, due to structural problems on its decks . . .

     . . . causing massive traffic problems, rearranged commuter schedules, and some business closures . . .

     . . . is now open again!

     The most significant effect, of course, is that I can now get to Waffle House in 7 minutes, rather than the 27 minutes that the detour required.

     Good people, good vibes, good steak-and-eggs.

A Post To All Futurians

Dear Friends of Future Quake,


     Ben Carmack and I returned from Nashville, Tennessee, today after a great session with Doctor Future, participating in the 300th (and final*) Future Quake show.  Present at the recording session were many of the Future Quake cast, including Mrs. Future, Tom Bionic, Emmett, Pyro, Chris White, Merv, Futurian Bob, and Adam Sayne.  Other Futurians were present in emails, and also in live remote interviews, from South Africa and the Pacific Northwest.  The recording process was over five hours -- that's right, five -- and it was great.


     The show file will be a great starting point for people who want to explore the seven years of archive files.  Many significant show topics were referenced by name, and some by show number.  We covered a lot of good ground, and had fun while we did so.


     There are a number of sites and projects related to Future Quake that are (1) already in existence, or (2) starting up as we speak, or (3) in planning stage and ready to start up in the very near Future.


     For his part, as you probably know, Doc Future will be devoting more of his time to the completion of a couple of books that he has under construction, and that he considers to be of some importance.  But he will probably be available for interviews, etc, with Futurians who have projects or web presence.


     I will post any and all comments, updates, and links to related shows, you-tube projects, documentaries, and web sites as I know of them.  For this purpose, I have created a permanent page titled, Future Quake Friends.  Please keep me, and this site, informed and up to date.


     Thanks.  -- Robert


* We may recall Garrison Keillor's famous "final performance" of A Prairie Home Companion that aired in 1987, and hope that Dr. Future will, in this matter, follow this worthy precedent and return soon, and vigorously, to the Net. 


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     The permanent page, Future Quake Friends, will appear in the band of links at the top of this site.  If at any time you do not see it there, look for a link to it in the sidebar.  It does exist at this site as a permanent page.

Pause

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     What do I already know . . .

. . . that I can do ?

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