Drive anywhere along the Mississippi or most any other river and you’ll see a levee, an earthen wall that parallels the river to keep water in the main channel and out of the adjacent floodplain. In this episode, I talk with Nicholas Pinter about levees and the good and bad that has come with
The most southern portion of Illinois has been known as Little Egypt at least since the 1820s, and maybe earlier. Many early European settlers viewed the Mississippi River as America’s Nile, which, coupled with evidence that the area was inhabited by an ancient civilization (earthen mounds that often looked a lot like pyramids) probably
Bix Beiderbecke grew into a jazz legend because he was born in the right place at the right time. Sure, he was also a gifted musician, but his path to the top as one of the greatest jazz cornetists was fueled by the inspiration he drew from hearing the earliest jazz musicians play on
In 1964 Mississippi, civil rights activists were fighting to dismantle deeply entrenched legal segregation and racism and the defenders of segregation were fighting back. On April 24, the Ku Klux Klan flexed its muscles by setting 61 crosses on fire around the state. By the time summer was over, Klan members had burned 20 black
The steam calliope on the American Queen (photo taken Sept 2013). See more photos here. Steam calliope on the American Queen
Congratulations to Pokey LaFarge, who got a spot on the David Letterman show Monday night! Not only did Pokey give a shout-out to his hometown of St. Louis, but the song he played, Central Time, makes frequent reference to the Mississippi River. Central Time is on his new CD, called Pokey LaFarge; go buy it
