by Jeff Maisey | Sep 25, 2018 | News, News & Views, Robotham
By Tom Robotham The other day in a class I teach at ODU called Music, Culture & Media, I asked the students if any of them had heard of Pete Seeger. “Is he related to Bob Seger?” one of them asked. I thought the anecdote was sufficiently amusing to share it on...
by Jeff Maisey | Aug 19, 2018 | News, News & Views, Robotham
By Tom Robotham In mid July, I took off on a road trip to the Big Apple, upstate New York and New England. It was a great journey in many respects. I had nice visits with my kids, both of whom live in the city, my sister and brother-in-law, and several old friends....
by Jeff Maisey | Jul 16, 2018 | News & Views, Robotham
By Tom Robotham In the final episode of Parts Unknown—shot in Bhutan—Anthony Bourdain asked a group of locals to comment on the country’s commitment to steadily improving its “Gross National Happiness.” It was a poignant moment, given that the episode aired two weeks...
by Jeff Maisey | Jun 29, 2018 | News, News & Views, Robotham
By Tom Robotham For the last 10 years, The Taphouse in Ghent has been my home away from home—my “Cheers,” if you will. I started going there in 2008 after the end of a long marriage and quickly got to know the staff and regulars. There was great comfort in...
by Jeff Maisey | Jun 23, 2018 | News & Views, Robotham, Travel
By Tom Robotham Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. ~ Mark Twain. Whenever I feel the need to take a journey of some kind, I’m torn between two options: revisiting a place that I know...
by Jeff Maisey | Jun 16, 2018 | News & Views, Robotham
By Tom Robotham You can’t be what you can’t see. ~ Marian Wright Edelman Every so often I see something on television that serves as a stark reminder of how much American society has changed for the better in my lifetime. A case in point: The other night I was...
