National Road Magazine The Greatest Place to Live; The Greatest Time to Live Here

I have always considered myself a tolerant, open-minded progressive.  Life in the United States perpetuated that myth, allowing me to remain ignorant of my biases, especially those regarding race.  But my first day in Sweden ripped that illusion to shreds. It happened in the span of three seconds.  Standing in …

After arguing for decades that “schools should be run like businesses” Indiana’s education reformers simply swapped out one bureaucracy for a vastly more complex substitute.  They failed.  They blew it. Now, they’re getting you mad at me, so that you won’t turn your pitchforks on them. It was the grand …

I can’t tell you what’s different between a visit to a Swedish or American doctor.  I can tell you, however, that when I hear Americans use the word “socialism” to describe places like Sweden, they’re getting it wrong.  Both sides are getting it wrong. For me the problem is always …

In Sweden, I saw the kind of train and rail system we would probably have here in Indiana had we not dismantled it in order to sell cars and build Interstate highways.  It’s a choice with a far-reaching impact, one that often keeps me home rather than traveling around the …

I didn't have to know any Swedish to get along in the country.  But forcing the Swedes to speak to me in my language made me realize how intellectually fat and sluggish life in the U.S. has made me.

Updated on Nov. 30, 2019 By most standards, I’ve lived an isolated life.  My last time out of the country was a fishing trip to Canada in 1979…when I was 10 years old.  Even by domestic standards, I haven’t zipped across that much of the U.S.  I’ve never been to …

My friend Mike Meyer and I were not friends when we first met.  You need to know that.  Most of the problem was me.  Actually, all of the problem was me.  I’m not going to say that Mike is the same person today that he was when he showed up …

Natural Born Leaders earned national attention in 2018, thanks in large part to an innovative Tiny Desk submission.  The band, however, is more than that five-minute segment on NPR.  In many ways, the group symbolizes both the future of music and the culmination of the watershed changes in the streaming …

Climate change is not only affecting temperature, but weather patterns, commercial farming, and is threatening to release diseases we thought long gone. I had the chance to go to Lincoln, Nebraska recently to attend a wedding. I’ve never had much cause to go to Nebraska, save for the fact we …

By betraying the loyalty of the workers in Lordstown, GM has betrayed my loyalty to them as a customer.  After three consecutive Cruzes in my garage, now I have to find a new car… and a new brand. I have never been to Lordstown, Ohio, but Lordstown, Ohio has been …

Winter House Home Page Fiction by Christian Shuck Chapter Twelve September 8, 2016 “Hurry up, Ted, we’ll be late!” shouted Terri from the back door. “I’m coming!” he shouted back, thundering down the stairs of their two story home. The Thomas’s, Ted and Terri, had moved in to the house …