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.
’ve been a TikTok user for a few years now, and while I enjoy it, my bio pretty much sums up how I feel. It reads: “A person who isn’t really sure if TikTok is exciting or terrifying.”
That idea may capture the larger debate we’re having in the U.S. about TikTok. The discussions raise important questions about free speech, national security, and how we can protect users while keeping our digital freedoms intact.
After the recent Supreme Court hearing on the possible TikTok ban, two big questions come up: Does restricting a major platform push us closer to the authoritarianism we’re supposed to be against? Is a foreign platform, one that collects user data, a future dystopian threat?
If you’ve ever watched a science fiction movie like 2001: A Space Odyssey or seen episodes of the classic Twilight Zone, you’ve likely caught a glimpse of a future where humans verbally communicate with intelligent machines.
The infamous HAL 9000 from 2001 became a cautionary tale of AI independence. Yet, while that vision seemed far off, today, a more sophisticated—and empathetic—version of talking AI is already here.
Meet Hume AI’s Empathic Voice Interface (EVI), a system designed to hear what you say and understand how you feel. You can try it by visiting the Hume AI website.
Peace can be built from above by people who have power, but it can also be built from below.
This was one of the key messages in a lecture given by Dr. Henrik Syse, a research professor from the Peace Research Institute in Oslo who teaches peace and conflict studies at Bjørknes University College.
Syse spoke to students in Dr. Zenebe Beyene’s peace journalism class remotely via Zoom this week about “reflections on the Nobel Peace Prize and generating a conversation about peace.”
University of Mississippi (UM) students are being challenged to delve deeper into complex issues about the university and state thanks to a special Honors College class designed to explore important topics 60 years after James Meredith’s enrollment as UM’s first Black student.
“I would describe this class as an open dialogue about the past, present, and future of both the university and the state as a whole,” said McKenzie Cox, a journalism and political science double-major from Concord, North Carolina, who is planning to pursue a career in broadcast news reporting and policy analysis.
The hunter spent his spare time chasing deer in Mississippi when he wasn’t chasing fires. Starkville firefighter Rob Robinson, 44, had been stalking bucks in his home state for years, but when he learned that Kansas, the state where his sister resided, was one of the best places to turkey hunt, Robinson made several trips there throughout the years until he scored a record-breaking kill in 2007 that ranked seventh in the world.
Motivated by success, Robinson decided to go for the “Grand Slam of Turkeys” in 2008, and wandered upon 1,600 acres of farmland owned by Gillan Alexander in Nicodemus, Kansas. He had no idea that when he knocked on Alexander’s door, he would eventually save his life. The chance meeting later led Robinson to donate a kidney to Alexander.
The term “Mad Men” once referred to Madison Avenue ad execs. But in Madison County, Mississippi, the creatives at Ridgeland’s Mad Genius embraced the name — hosting a full-on “Mad Menius” office party in costume to celebrate the hit AMC drama.
Creative Director Eric Hughes was hooked from day one.
The “Mad Men” madness has officially made its way to Mississippi. Jackson residents Michael Busbin and Brian Kendrick are such big fans of AMC’s hit drama that they bought a retro home in northeast Jackson inspired by Don Draper’s mid-century cool.
“It already had grass cloth wallpaper and a living room rock garden — total ‘60s vibes,” Busbin said. “We’ve updated it a little, but kept the vintage charm. We love pieces like Eames and Panton chairs — anything that feels ‘Mad Men.’ It’s how we like to live — cool, relaxed, and a little nostalgic.”
Los Angeles-based Natasha Feldman and Julianna Strickland host a web-based cooking show about food and movies called “Cinema & Spice.” They are big “Mad Men” fans, and recently taped a segment about how to throw a “Mad Men” party.
Near the end of the school year at Brandon’s University Christian School, the art teacher gave his first-period students large canvases, leftover paint, and the freedom to go at them Jackson Pollack-style.
Danielle Parkman, 14, dipped her hands in color and splattered it against the white, tossing pink, blue and red across the rectangle. Then she threw it on her friends, who laughed and retaliated until, pretty soon, everyone was engaged in a colorful, carefree mess of creativity.
Hazlehurst resident Charles Jenkins, 63, began “mud painting” after a tour of plantations in St. Francisville, Louisiana.
He found shades of green in Columbia’s Red Bluff and reds in Copiah County creeks.
When Sara Zittlow returned from an inspirational trip to Israel, she decided to begin spending more time with her growing family away from life’s distractions.
So she devised a plan, talked it over with her husband and set out on a nine-month journey from Green Bay, Wisconsin.
On cold mornings, Mr. Henry would come to work early and crank all the vehicles so they would be warm inside when the other bus drivers arrived.
He kept a list of all the children on his bus route, recording their names, addresses and birthdays so he and his wife could send them birthday cards and small surprises throughout the years.
Where were you when the Challenger exploded? For many in Generation X, Jan. 28, 1986, was the moment childhood innocence shattered — much like JFK’s assassination defined a generation before them.
I recently interviewed Mississippians with powerful connections to the tragedy.
When Sharon McConnell-Dickerson began to lose her vision in 1995, she faced a difficult truth: her life would never be the same. But in the darkness, she discovered something unexpected — art.
That discovery eventually led her from New England to the Mississippi Delta, where she would spend more than a decade capturing the soul of the blues, not through sound, but through sculpture.
It’s hard to imagine childhood without the Muppets, and since “Sesame Street” debuted in 1969, generations have grown up with Jim Henson’s unforgettable creations. Now, Jim Henson’s Fantastic World — a traveling Smithsonian exhibit — brings his incredible legacy to the Mississippi Museum of Art.
Hailing from the Mississippi Delta, Henson transformed his early love for puppetry into iconic shows like “The Muppet Show” and “Sesame Street,” captivating audiences worldwide. This exhibit offers a rare glimpse into his creative process with 100 original pieces, including puppets, sketches, storyboards, and videos.
I recently had the unique opportunity to interview the legendary Kermit the Frog for “The Clarion-Ledger.” Known worldwide and deeply connected to Mississippi through his creator Jim Henson — born in Greenville — Kermit shared insights into his roots, career, and views on fame.
Kermit was delighted to learn his swamp home was identified as Deer Creek in Leland, Mississippi, describing his upbringing fondly despite his small size. He humbly compared himself to other Mississippi icons like Elvis and Oprah, crediting their “regular folks” charm to growing up in the state. When asked about current projects, Kermit highlighted holiday specials, a viral Queen cover, and a potential movie.
Did you know that HBO’s hit series “True Blood” has deep ties to Mississippi? The show is based on “The Southern Vampire Mysteries” novels by Mississippi native Charlaine Harris.
Born in Tunica in 1951, Harris grew up in the South, the daughter of a farmer-turned-school principal and a librarian. After graduating from Rhodes College in Memphis, she worked as a journalist in Clarksdale and Greenville before publishing her first novel, “Sweet and Deadly,” in 1981.
Rick Griffin, a Jackson landscape architect, grew up seeing bottle trees on trips between Ocean Springs and Vicksburg. Fascinated by their charm, he built a 10-foot bottle tree in his own yard, calling it a symbol of fun and individuality. “It’s about being a nonconformist,” he says.
Once dismissed as kitschy folk art, bottle trees are now booming in popularity across the South, especially in neighborhoods like Fondren, where urban horticulture expert Felder Rushing has documented a sharp rise in their numbers. Rushing believes this trend reflects a cultural shift toward more relaxed, expressive outdoor spaces. “For a long time, lawns had to be perfect. Now, people feel freer to add personality and history to their yards,” he explains.
When we asked readers about their UFO experiences, many shared anonymous stories, fearing ridicule despite their credibility.
One radio reporter recalled seeing a mysterious light in Gautier that moved rapidly, then hovered motionless before darting away. Another witness, stationed on a German Air Force base in 1973, described a silent, brightly lit triangular craft crossing the sky in minutes — clearly not man-made.
Do you believe in ghosts? You’re not alone. Mississippi is home to at least 10 paranormal research groups made up of people who definitely do — and they’re part of a much larger trend.
Across the U.S. and U.K., more than 300 groups are actively investigating unexplained phenomena, often inspired by popular television shows like “Ghost Hunters,” “Medium,” “Ghost Whisperer,” and “Haunting Evidence.”
Have you heard of the new wedding trend called “trashing the dress”? It’s a fine art photography movement gaining popularity across the country — and it’s not as destructive as it sounds.
Brides are taking their once-worn gowns and diving into oceans, rolling in mud, or swimming through lakes, all in the name of creating unforgettable photos. The idea? The dress was only going to be worn once, so why not turn it into a work of art?
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