RJ Smith
What’s New at Midpoint 2017?
Three of the big names on the bill are Canadian. Has Justin Trudeau secretly been consulting?
King Records Month Packs A Year’s Worth of Devotion Into A Few Weeks
It will take every day of the month to conjure up the bigness that was “The King of the Independents.”
Ginseng: A New Kind of Cash Crop
Ginseng is a staple of herbal medicine from China to Appalachia. It even grows in Hamilton County. But be careful who you tell. A detour into the world of illegal ginseng poaching.
Long Weekend: Chattanooga, Tennessee
Among the banjos, bikes, and chili peppers of a great Tennessee river town.
Is Dayton The World Capital of Funk?
With a royal lineage like the Ohio Players, Slave, Zapp, and Junie Morrison in the history books, it’s hard to deny. But can so much musical sweat be contained in a Gem City Funk Hall of Fame? We’ll know when they tear the roof off the sucker.
Cincinnati After Dark: Philip Paul On Keeping Cincinnati Awake For Seven Decades And Counting
Philip Paul isn’t just the great King Records house drummer: He’s been playing in the city’s nightclubs longer than almost any other musician.
Taste Test: Ice Cream
Some assignments are solo flights, while others are best done en masse. Surveying the best house-made ice cream is far too much for one writer.
Trey Radel’s Fast Times on Capitol Hill
Trey Radel was a mouthy, rap-loving, Tea Party–endorsed Congressman who was on his way up until a coke bust derailed his ascent. But as his new book 'Democrazy' makes clear, he has plenty more to say.
Lost City: The Cincinnati Museum of Natural History and Planetarium
Built in 1957 by local boy Walter W. Cordes, the museum contained everything from ancient Native American arrowheads to birds John James Audubon himself had stuffed to a laser light show that transpired under the planetarium dome.