Author Archives: Ralph Hanson

For my feature writing students – Frank Sinatra Has a Cold

Today I’m posting an edited and updated version of something I first put up back in October 2009: This week in my feature writing class we’re talking about a classic Esquire feature story from the mid 1960s: Gay Talese’s Frank Sinatra Has A … Continue reading

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Global Car Commercials

I’ve had several interesting, sometimes controversial, commercials show up through my in-box the last few days.  Some old, some new. Great examples to use in class either for teaching advertising or ethics (or both!). They are also just a lot … Continue reading

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Sept. 11, 2001 retrospective

I’ve been tweeting a lot this last week or two about 9/11 coverage. Here’s a collection of items based on those tweets. Newseum Newspaper Front Page Archive The Newseum posts the front pages of newspapers from around the world on … Continue reading

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Ch. 2 Link – John Adams – On The Transmigration of Souls

You can listen to an interview with composer John Adams where he talks about is Pulitzer Prize-winning composition about the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, “On The Transmigration of Souls.”  The interview aired on NPR on Sept. 20, 2011. And here’s … Continue reading

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A Motorcycle Ride to the United 93 Memorial on a Rainy Summer Day

This has nothing to do with the media. It’s a brief story about a ride I took on my motorcycle to the United 93 Memorial on a rainy June day back in 2004. It was written shortly after I had … Continue reading

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It’s a small, small world…

Erik, my oldest son, views study abroad as an all-you-can-eat buffet.  He went to Germany when he was 16 as a high school exchange student; he did a study abroad through University of Nebraska at Kearney in Rostock, Germany; and … Continue reading

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What makes a great movie quote great?

There’s been a discussion going on via my local movie theater’s Facebook page about people’s favorite movie quotes.  I gave a lot of thought to the question before making my post.  I’m not like those folks who cheat and put … Continue reading

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Movie Images of the Twin Towers

Before 9/11, the silhouette of the twin towers of the World Trade Center were one of the quickest ways movie makers had of establishing that we were looking at the NYC skyline.  Here’s a beautiful collection of WTC skylines edited by … Continue reading

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A Song For Labor Day

Phil Ochs singing his classic “Power and Glory.”  A great song for the true meaning of Labor Day.

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Great 9/11 Television Archive

The Internet Archive has posted an absolutely mesmerizing archive of television coverage of the 9/11 attacks on the United States.  Starting at 8 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, Sept. 11 (when the first of the hijacked planes took off from Boston), … Continue reading

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