Another Look at Maine Maritime: Who is Providing Value, to Whom, and How?
by James Fallows
In response to our series of posts about Maine Maritime Academy, we heard from a reader who pushes back on the notion that the merchant-marine academies provide very high career-earnings value to their students, at a low cost. Jim lets him have the floor here to make the argument that the “value added” in higher salaries comes from legislatively protected earnings for merchant seamen. More on this argument, including strong counter-arguments, coming soon. (Read it here.)
“Wondering Why We Like Fresno?”
“Wondering Why We Like Fresno?”
by James Fallows
Some people are smug about the coolness of New York or San Francisco. Those places are nice, Jim Fallows agrees. But he much prefers “the kick-ass spirit” of Fresno, captured in this new video from Bitwise, “a tech incubator, training school, entrepreneur center, and overall social force in one of California’s least-fashionable cities.” (See the video here; read the brief post here.)
Another Honor for Maine Maritime Academy, at an Important Time
Another Honor for Maine Maritime Academy, at an Important Time
by James Fallows
This is an update, with news, about Maine Maritime Academy, an institution that perfectly illustrates an important theme we’ve developed in the American Futures project about education in this country. Fallows tells us about the continuing, well-deserved recognition MMA is receiving for the incredible “added value” of its degree programs. Poignantly, Fallows also offers an appreciation for the five MMA alumni who lost their lives when the cargo ship El Faro sank on October 1 during Hurricane Joaquin. (Read it here.)
Restoring the Great North American Grasslands
Swimming Through the Sky, Over Stunning American Wild Lands
by James Fallows
Consider this an introduction to a forthcoming series of reports about the visit by Jim and Deb Fallows to Montana’s American Prairie Reserve, where an enormous and ambitious effort is underway to restore vast grasslands there. In this post, Fallows writes about the striking beauty of the area, especially when seen from a low-flying plane, and embeds a video from the APR about the project. (Read and see it here.)
Jim and Deb Fallows Talk about “American Futures” with Kai Ryssdal of Marketplace Radio
A Library Writes Its Own Story
A Library Writes Its Own Story
by Deborah Fallows
A California library becomes a living legend. (Read it here.)
Gone Swimmin’
Gone Swimmin’
by Deborah Fallows
How Public Swimming Pools Show You the Heart of a Town (Read it here.)
A Library of Good Ideas
A Library of Good Ideas
by Deborah Fallows
Formula for success in Central Oregon: know the users, spot the opportunities, act with vigor. (Read it here.)
An Innovative Library in Oregon, and Other Reports from the Road
An Innovative Library in Oregon, and Other Reports from the Road
by James Fallows
Kicking off reports from the inland northwest, plus Happy Birthday to James Baldwin (Read it here.)
America and Iran, at Walden Pond
America and Iran, at Walden Pond
by James Fallows
From his tiny room in Tehran, an Iranian scholar imagined what a classic American scene would look like. Here is what happened when he had a chance to see for himself. (Read it here.)
American Futures 