The quiet revolution of the young

Sam Smith – In a curious way, the defection from British tradition by Prince Harry is right in step with things happening in America as well. A 36 year old royal doesn’t want to play by the old rules any more. And as with today’s American young he didn’t quit in a noisy, revolutionary way …

WHRB: Unofficial sounds of Harvard in the 1950s

Sam Smith WHRB was started during World War II as an AM station, using as its antenna the university's electrical wiring system running through huge tunnels for the steam pipes. Its signal was not supposed to be heard beyond the campus, but there were periodic reports of it being picked up as far as Medford …

An apology to younger Americans

BY SAM SMITH 2003 In observance of the approaching 66th anniversary of my arrival on this planet I would like to apologize to you on behalf of my generation. Even members of Confederacy had the grace to secede from the union; my generation has remained within like a deadly virus, subverting it, shaming it, screwing …

Becoming and being an activist

Talk at Active & Compassionate Teens Conference for Social Justice Tatnall School, Willimngton DE, March 6, 2004 Sam Smith   You never know how it's going to work out. . . About 16 years ago my youngest son, soon to graduate from high school, visited a used clothing shop with two buddies. One of them …

Premature aging

Sam Smith 2006 One of the most striking changes in Washington culture over recent decades has been the disappearance of radical youth and their replacement  by a culture of elite, young right libertarians coming to the capital intent on increasing their own capital, financial and political. The recently jailed graffiti artist Borf is a rare …

Zero tolerance

Sam Smith, 2004 - During the Cold War someone defined the difference between the major parties this way: In America everything is permitted that is not prohibited. In Germany everything is prohibited that is not permitted. In France everything is permitted even though it is prohibited. In Russia everything is prohibited even though it is …

Arkansas Connections

1950s When Bill Clinton is 7, his family moves from Hope, Arkansas, to the long-time mob resort of Hot Springs, AR. Here Al Capone is said to have had permanent rights to suite 443 of the Arlington Hotel. Clinton's stepfather is a gun-brandishing alcoholic who loses his Buick franchise through mismanagement and his own pilfering. …