When people hear the word “aging,” they often think of retirement homes, health concerns, or the inevitable passage of time. Before becoming a Journalists in Aging Fellow with the Gerontological Society of America, I might have thought of some of those things, too.
If you’ve ever wondered what it might feel like to spend the night somewhere between the golden glow of Old Hollywood and the laid-back, sun-drenched cool of modern California, allow me to introduce you to The Hoxton hotel in Downtown LA — a hotel that feels less like a place to crash and more like a glamorous friend’s impeccably designed pied-à-terre.
I went into this film expecting a biographical thriller — something that would frame Ann Lee as an experimental woman ahead of her time who embraced ideas we might now recognize as modern feminism and was persecuted by society for those beliefs. Instead, the film is about a pious, devout woman … who was still persecuted by society for expressing her spirituality in a different way.
By the time our group gathered in the grand, historic lobby of the Herald Examiner Building in downtown Los Angeles for the official 2025 Solutions Journalism Educators Academy group photo, I realized something: This wasn’t just another academic conference where people politely sip coffee, nod a lot, and collect tote bags they’ll never use again.
It has been three years since Taylor Goode has spoken to his mother — three years since she’s heard the sound of his voice. And sometimes she cannot bear to look at photos of her children when they were young and thriving.
“I usually get upset, so I don’t get them out a lot,” she said. “I miss it and want it back for them so bad.”
But Jennifer Potts is thankful that both of her boys are still alive and with her. “I know things can get worse,” she said. “These two kids have every right to be whiny, complaining and ill, but they are never down. So I try to stay positive and in a good mood, because they are.
Jamie Smith grew up playing in clay at his aunt and uncle’s pottery shop in Merigold.
“My first sculpture piece was Moby Dick,” he said. “I took a big block of clay and hammered on it. I beat a tail into it. Then I put some little teeth in it. They dried it slowly for well over a month.”
Today, Jamie and his brother, Stephen, help run McCartys Pottery, a hidden Mississippi gem nestled in the foliage in this tiny town outside Cleveland.
Today, one year after the turmoil in Ferguson, Missouri, race riots sparked by alleged profiling, discrimination and police militarization are still making headlines in America. But in 1919, Elaine, Arkansas, was the center of the country’s deadliest race riot.
Birdhouses hang everywhere in the dying Delta town of Elaine, Arkansas — a distraction from the blight, neglect and century-old history of a county where hundreds of black men were lynched in 1919.
On Lee Street, a diner has “Open” and “For Sale” signs in a window, but no one is there.
When the name Lizzie Borden comes up, what’s the first thing that pops into your mind?
If you’re like many, it evokes images of a 19th-century woman accused of gruesomely murdering her family. But here’s the twist: Lizzie was never convicted. In fact, she was acquitted, leaving a legacy shrouded in mystery and intrigue.
That’s why I was thrilled to invite Ashley Dees, a research and instruction librarian at the University of Mississippi, to speak to my class this Halloween about the infamous Borden case. Dees uses true crime research as a vehicle for enhancing critical thinking skills, which is especially relevant in today’s world where the reliability of information can often come into question.
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