Destination: Indiana

Osama bin Laden in Indiana: ‘And Just Like That, a Don DeLillo Novel is Born’

Steve Coll breaks the news that Osama bin Laden and his family vacationed in the U.S. for two weeks in 1979, visiting California and Indiana. The details of Coll’s post in the New Yorker come from a forthcoming book by Osama’s first wife.

The DeLillo reference in our headline comes from a related snarky Gawker post. Gawker also asks: “Doesn’t Growing Up bin Laden sound like a great name for a reality show?”

Why not? It certainly would be more interesting than this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.

Man, that’s tiring.


After Michael Jackson: Will Tourists Flock to Neverland Ranch?

After Michael Jackson: Will Tourists Flock to Neverland Ranch? Photo by Eva Holland
Photo of the Apollo Theater by Eva Holland

Over at This Just In, the inevitable question has been asked: Where will Michael Jackson’s Graceland be? After all, the King of Pop’s fans will need a pilgrimage spot just as badly as the King’s do. JD Rinne offers a few possibilities: the Jackson family hometown of Gary, Indiana; Detroit’s Motown Museum; the Apollo Theater in Harlem; and, of course, Neverland Ranch.

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The Heat Seeker: Into the Heartland

The Heat Seeker: Into the Heartland Photo by Nicolas*, via Flickr (Creative Commons)

Alison Stein Wellner likes her food hot and spicy. To find out how hot and spicy, she searched the world for heat. Part five of five: From Nashville to Indianapolis.

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Video: Alison Stein Wellner: The Heat Seeker

Alison Stein Wellner traveled around the world to eat the hottest food she could handle, a quest she chronicled for World Hum

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American Regionalisms Redux

We know that loads of you take notice of regional speak as you do your state-to-state wandering. So you’ll definitely want to know about this. But even if you don’t normally listen up for regionalisms and English is your first language, you’re still not off the hook when it comes to Frank Bures’ recommendation that travelers tote along a dictionary on trips.

No, thanks to several decades of work by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, there’s a nearly-complete multivolume dictionary that will help you understand what’s going on when you get invited to a “pitch-in” in Indiana or which “scrimptions” you should save down South.

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Humor in America: You Know You Live In ...

Humor in America: You Know You Live In ... Photo by cindy47452 via Flickr (Creative Commons)
Photo by cindy47452 via Flickr (Creative Commons)


Thanks to the must-see series and must-read companion book, Make ‘Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America, I’ve got 50 states’ worth of ha-ha on the brain. The series’ creators offer up six genres of American comedy; some are riffs on humor birthed in lands far far away, and others are distinctly American. Until you can get home to watch them (‘cause we all know you’re reading this on company time), here’s a good guffaw or five (which are, most definitely, not part of the series). They’re “You Know You Live In ...” videos, a brand of humor that, I’m pretty sure, is all-American. I mean, seriously, can you imagine the French or the Germans laughing at themselves in such a good-natured and charming manner. (Kidding. Kidding. Ish.) Prepare to be entertained.

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Sipping Starbucks, From Bloomington, Indiana to Shanghai, China

Starbucks, Shanghai, China Photo by Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom

Westerners often assume that a Starbucks is a Starbucks is a Starbucks, but are they right? Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom recalls the big green coffee machine's arrival in two very different cities.

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