Syd Golston's blog

On this bright, cool Saturday morning in Scottsdale, I'm writing a lesson for the Lehrer NewsHour website for teachers and students. It's called "Write Obama's Inaugural Address." There's a jigsaw of inauguration readings as a lesson set: Lincoln's in 1865, Wilson's in 1917, FDR's in 1933, JFK's in 1961.

So I have been picking through the words of our most spectacular speakers, already.  read more »

October 5: Syd in India

I took the flight from New Delhi to Aurangabad this morning. I was early to the airport, and passed time reading the matrimonial ads in the India Times. I remember these from the 1996 trip to Mumbai and Hyderabad, and they haven't changed at all. Prospective grooms' families still list relentlessly the young men's academic and financial achievements, followed by the request that the bride be fair, tall, and accomplished. While we worry about the racial subtext in the American election, it's right there up front in those ads.  read more »