Until you’ve been chased by an animal that’s foaming at the mouth, you haven’t really experienced the terror of rabies. Recent reports of potentially rabid animals threatening humans have reminded me of my own encounter with ...
Stories of heroism, honor, sacrifice on the field of battle—the kind repeated every Memorial Day—are in a peculiar way not only about the people whose lives are remembered through them. They are also about us ...
On a day that seemed so damp that fish could have come in through the door and floated out the windows, lovers of the writing of Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1927-2014) gathered at Kavarna coffeehouse in Decatur to ...
Jackson, Ga. — When a tractor-trailer is barreling down behind you on I-285, the driver may not seem human at all. Pull over at exit 201 off Interstate 75, and you see the personal side of the men ...
Ten years ago, banning same-sex marriage was so in vogue that 3 of every 4 Georgia voters approved amending the state constitution so only men and women could marry each other. Last weekend, several prominent gays ...
Adventure and discovery demand we take risk, and we parents measure this all the time when it comes to our kids. One of the greatest adventures is to travel around the world, and the blogosphere ...
Long before TV’s “The Amazing Race,” an elaborate competition with puzzles and physical challenges already took place each year around Atlanta with little fanfare. On Saturday, the 25th anniversary Get-a-Clue featured 13 teams in a high-tech ...
Through all the ice, snow and harsh temperatures of Atlanta’s recent winter, Christi Behrend waited for the Peachtree Road Farmers Market to open for the season. She keeps an organic kitchen at home and likes ...
After censorship, can there be reconciliation? That was the question for Atlanta artist Ruth Stanford on a recent visit with her to the re-installation of “A Walk Through the Valley” at Kennesaw State University. A month ...
This week, Louisa Hill, a young playwright who learned to keep going in Atlanta and win national awards for making audiences laugh, will return to her alma mater to speak at the 43rd annual Agnes Scott ...
As technology makes creative work move faster, the careers of Deeds Davis and other illustrators have slowed way down. In a world of stock photography and digital design, fewer people seek intricate, original drawings by ...
While Mardi Gras was breaking out in New Orleans last weekend, an anti-carnival with all the snazz of a paper box unfolded in Atlanta. Scores of cardboard-covered figures paraded across downtown Atlanta last Saturday night, attracting ...
Morehouse College, the alma mater of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., has never been the kind of seeding ground for championing the civil rights of gays as it was for African Americans and other minorities. ...
Dozens of customers were waiting outside when Tony Powers unlocked the door of his Intown Ace hardware store in Decatur the morning before the ice storm. Before the day ended, he had run up 22,000 steps, ...
The Fox Theatre sometimes releases rush tickets for popular shows. Twenty prime seats for “Book of Mormon” would go for only $25 each to ten lucky winners whose names get drawn from a box two ...
Ryan Hidinger’s dream of opening his own restaurant did not die with him. That dream, which the late chef had shared with his wife, Jennifer, to make a living running their own establishment, has grown into ...
The week before the Super Bowl, Kavin Caruso showed off his stellar memory by naming every NFL title winner in the 1960s and the teams they defeated. With a mental vise grip for dates and ...
In fiction, superheroes often elude the camera, their legends created by what bystanders thought they saw. Inside an Atlanta photography studio, Batman, Wonder Woman, Nightwing, Superman, the Green Lantern and other beloved superheroes are captured in ...
Let me guess. It’s barely two weeks into 2014 and you’re already wavering on your New Year’s resolutions. Maybe you’ve blown them altogether. Or if you’re like me, you haven’t even started them yet. What was ...
At the start of the 2013 college football season, Chette Williams, chaplain of the Auburn University Tigers, said he told a reporter, “I hope our football team scores a lot of touchdowns for Jesus.” Williams had ...
Ben Smith
Columnist Ben Smith, who writes this column with his wife Michelle Hiskey, is a veteran reporter and website designer who has freelanced articles for The Toronto Star, CNN, AOL.com, the Daily Report, among other publications. He worked at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for 22 years covering primarily politics and government. Ben earned his bachelor's degree in English from the University of the South, Sewanee, Tenn. Ben and Michelle live in Decatur with their two terrific daughters.
Recent Posts
Recent Posts
- Empowering Atlanta
- Financial Inclusion
- Global Health
- Higher Education
- Historic Westside
- Innovation Digest
- Metro Business
- People, Places, Parks
- Philanthropy
- Poverty and Equity
- Securing Atlanta’s Future
- Views From Peachtree
- Sustainable Communities
- Transit
- Money Matters
Visit the Atlanta Civic Circle, a nonprofit journalism and civic engagement site, which works on community-wide issues and solutions.
