Transom

Site and project creator Jay Allison calls this an “internet showcase and workshop for new stories and voices” in public radio. What it is, truly, is a fantastic collection of some amazing radio and aural pieces, works of significant journalism, but also stunning portraits of lives and life-changing stories. While doing research for projects of my own, this site was recommended to me. I am honestly bowled over by how engaging the stories are, compared to the enormous number of podcast-style pieces I have been listening to today. Transom is the first and only stand-alone website ever to receive the presitigious Peabody broadcasting award. I can see why.

The Sartorialist

This also belongs in the fashion area, but no matter its category, this is one of the most inspiring places I visit anywhere on the web. Scott Schuman works in the fashion industry and has since turned his massive collection of street fashion photography into an industry of its own, spawning at least one book and a parade of blogs with the same mission. But no one has the eye that this guy does; he posts sometimes stunning, sometimes intriguing, always inspired real people who have it going on. I don’t think I’d ever make the page, but I am continuously roused by the combinations, colors, and statements people make with their everyday fashion.

Unhappy Medium

The say-anything blog of one of my favorite writers, who also happens to be a linguistics expert and has a fantastic sense of humor

A Work In Progress

A fellow classmate of mine, Katie chronicles surviving the whole grad school game, while maintaining sanity and all the other things that also matter.

Weakest Shade Of Blue

One of the best writers I know chronicles her life, and the joys and uncertainties of being a twenty-something in the twenty-teens. You can also read Leah’s portfolio work (she’s a great reporter, too).

Another History Blog

A project by one of my professors at Kennesaw State, Dr. David Parker. He’s got a lot of great nuggets of Georgia and southern history in his series.

NPR (and PRI)

The place I turn to for news; I find NPR and PRI radio broadcasts on my local public radio station (90.1 WABE) keep me well-informed. I am always stunned by the great international coverage featured on PRI’s The World, and especially LOVE the podcast off-shoot The World in Words, hosted by Patrick Cox. I cite news stories from PRI and NPR often, if you can’t tell; it’s definitely my favorite source for consistent and interesting news.

National Geographic

The newly-redesigned National Geographic website is an amazing feast of information, culture, photos, archives, and news stories. Readers can submit photos for the site’s gallery as well as potential publication in the magazine; the travel blog and posts are always interesting; and you can find articles going years back.

Diggnation

Since the summer of 2008, I’ve been an avid Diggnation fan, which is an online show hosted by Kevin Rose, the creator of Digg.com, and Alex Albrecht, an internet celebrity of sorts. On the show, they discuss some of the week’s top stories, usually with a vague theme of technology but including many random topics as well. It’s entertaining fare, for sure. It’s produced by Revision3, which does a number of great (and sometimes nerdy) internet-aired weekly shows.

The Economist

In case you are not one of the people who reads The Economist in its entire print form each week, and are even one of the people who pay the $100+ price tag on an annual subscription so that others may assume you are informed, this British “newspaper” is one the best sources for international news. And you can read most of its content online for free! So gone are your worries of being an uniformed American, or even an informed-but-broke American– take heart and read.

History News Network

Ever wish there was a place where you could read hundreds of esteemed historians writings? George Mason University has created it. There are hundreds of topics and areas of specialty to browse.

The Times of India

One of the leading English-language newspapers for the subcontinent is a great news source for me, a student of Indian history, politics, and culture. And the Bollywood and entertainment photos are always fun to check out.

Vast Public Indifference

Graduate student Caitlin Hopkins maintains this blog on “history, grad school, and gravestones” from her New England location and perspective. Her posts are brief but numerous, making them fun to catch up on for some knowledge and a few laughs. See especially her love of finding quirky names and ways of describing death on the many tombstones she studies.

Young J. Allen papers

If you’re interested in the subject of my senior history thesis, Methodist missionary Young John Allen, take a few minutes and browse some of the letters Emory University has in their online collection. Some are from him sent to family and friends in Georgia, some are addressed to him, in Shanghai. You can even see the original letters as well, to give you a sense of my own escapades in Allen’s manuscript collection. He was a missionary, publisher, educator, and journalist during his years there, from 1860 until his death in 1907.

NYT Magazine: “Picnic in North Korea”

Article that appeared in NYT Magazine, Oct. 23, 2009, by Korean-American Marie Myung-Ok Lee, about her experience visiting North Korea with her mother.

White Girl in China

Stacey, who goes by “Red” on her blog, was my roommate for one month in Yangzhou, China, during the summer of 2007. She has now spent nearly an entire year living in Beijing, studying Mandarin Chinese and furthering her frustrations in trying to understand the Chinese culture and psyche. Although she returned to the U.S. in late July 2009, she has a treasure trove of adventures and musings in her archives, compiled since her arrival in Beijing in August 2008. She has even written a few in Chinese, should you like to tackle them; but the accounts written in English are often funny and insightful, and a great encapsulation of life as a foreign student in modern Beijing, China.