Vacations: Balancing the Scales of Labor and Leisure

Sabrina Schaeffer

Summer is the season of vacations. And for many Americans, time spent away in the mountains, lakes, and oceans is where families reunite, make memories and establish traditions.  Having just returned from a vacation with my own family, I’m reminded that vacationing in the United States has a distinct history that dates back to the early 19th century.

As historian Cindy Aron recounts in her book Working at Play: A History of Vacations in the United States, the rise of vacations in America is “embedded in a familiar history of the United States,” as we shifted from an agrarian to an industrial nation, developed of a mass-transportation system, and saw the rise of the middle class.  But what’s more interesting about the American story of vacationing is what Aron describes as the “love/hate battle” Americans have with vacations. Read

Tony Awards need to get beyond the street where they live

Allan Golombek

I’m a big fan of Broadway shows. So I should enjoy the Tony Awards show. And I do — last night’s show had particularly good performances from La Cage, Memphis and Million-Dollar Quartet. But something always bothers me about the Tonys. More than any of the other award ceremonies – the Oscar, the Emmy, the Grammy, even the MTV Awards  – the Tony is an “insider” occasion. The speeches of presenters and award winners both are laced with inside references, and even more with insider “emotions” — a frequent assumption that everyone listening to them understands their cultural references, and maybe even that those who don’t understand don’t count.

It’s easy to understand the homogeneous nature of the Broadway community. They work hard to get to the top — usually a lot harder than in the other popular entertainment forms — and the financial rewards and recognition generally don’t match movies, TV etc. Read

Analyzing Campaign Speechwriting on Norwegian TV

WHWG

Last fall, Clark S. Judge appeared on Norwegian television to discuss President Obama’s speeches from the 2008 campaign.  He addresses the role of speech writing in a campaign environment and other important factors that anyone communicating with varied audiences across multiple mediums should keep in mind.


Read All Feed Items
© 2010 White House Writers Group. All rights reserved.