In the twelve months since the onset of COVID-19 communities have experienced immeasurable economic instability — closings of small businesses, reduction in tax revenue, growing unemployment, disruption of schools, in addition to loss of lives to the pandemic. Despite this fracturing, what we see emerging is greater adoption of alternative ideas for uplifting local economies–ideas that can inject capital into communities and help to increase circulation of goods … Continued

In 1940 the legendary comedian and silent film star, Charlie Chaplin, made his first “talking” film. Called The Great Dictator it is the story of a barber mistaken for the dictator of the fictional state of Tomainia. The barber is expected to give a … Continued

An illuminated page from the Lindisfarne Gospels. Source: The British Library   On a rocky outcropping off the northeastern coast of England, the monastery of Lindisfarne once stood as an outpost of religious, philosophic, and intellectual study against the “dark” times of early medieval Europe.  With Northumberland to its back and the expanse of the … Continued