The border that separates the United States from Mexico stretches across four states and spans almost 2,000 miles, but the issues that arise from this separation travel an even greater distance. Immigration touches on the economic, social and political fabric of all 50 states. Host Frank Stasio talks with Duke professor of the practice of […]

There are few roads that parallel the U.S./Mexican border for very long. Interstates tend to veer away, and those wishing to follow the 1,969-mile boundary must often risk axle-destroying four-wheel-drive roads that cut through the Southwestern plains. Yet Charles Thompson took those roads, rattling along heavily rutted trails, fingers crossed that his rented Chevy Cruze […]

https://soundcloud.com/houstonmatters/07205-border-odysseywav In 2010, Duke University professor Charles Thompson followed the U.S.-Mexico border, which spans nearly two-thousand miles. They followed a path from the Texas Gulf Coast to the Pacific Ocean, exploring small towns and larger communities on both sides of the border. Thompson spoke with residents living within these border communities to get a better […]

Whiskey making, while rare in southern England, was highly developed in both Scotland and Ireland by the time of the Ulster emigration. We can credit the Ulster immigrants for helping introduce the tradition to America. Through their influence, whiskey making became commonplace everywhere in the new colony, particularly on the frontier. Frenchman Marquis de Chastelleaux […]

In this photo essay and accompanying text, Charles D. Thompson, Jr. meets Cuban farmers, explores sustainable agricultural initiatives in the island nation, and suggests the possibilities for mutually beneficial exchanges with farmers’ organizations in the US South.