Category Archives: SPIRIT

THIS DAMN DOG

Posted on January 23, 2024 by Kit Troyer

I’ve lived with a number of dogs across the years. Until recently I’d never lived with one who made me feel like I was being outsmarted. Or like I was somehow falling short. I don’t know, maybe Mocha only has … Continue reading →

Posted in ANIMALS, CHILD REARING, DOGS, DUMB SHIT I'VE DONE, SELF HELP, SPIRIT | Tagged | 25 Comments

KILLER INVENTIONS: LSD

Posted on November 8, 2023 by Kit Troyer

The Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann was the first person to synthesize LSD. Eighty-five years later, the world is still trying to figure out what to do with Hofmann’s ‘problem child.’ For the full story, listen to the latest episode of … Continue reading →

Posted in PODCAST, SELF HELP, SPIRIT | 1 Comment

EIGHT YEARS BEFORE LINDBERGH

Posted on August 11, 2023 by Kit Troyer

Fasten your seatbelts for the incredible story of Arthur Whitten Brown and John Alcock, two young aviators who attempted the first nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1919 — eight years before Lindbergh managed the feat solo. Listen to … Continue reading →

Posted in COURAGE, HEROES, PODCAST, SPIRIT | 3 Comments

DIOGENES OF SINOPE

Posted on July 28, 2023 by Kit Troyer

He lived on the street, he heckled Plato, he loved dogs. Some of his contemporaries thought he was insane, but today Diogenes is considered one of the preeminent philosophers of Ancient Greece. To learn more about this remarkable man, listen … Continue reading →

Posted in COURAGE, DOGS, HEROES, PODCAST, SELF HELP, SPIRIT | 3 Comments

TEMPLE DEFENDER

Posted on June 18, 2023 by Kit Troyer

In the last years of his life, the Indian lawyer and holy man T.P. Sundararajan took up a new cause — finding out just what was stored in the mysterious vaults beneath the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram. Listen to … Continue reading →

Posted in PODCAST, SPIRIT | 8 Comments

SHE FELL FROM THE SKY

Posted on May 3, 2023 by Kit Troyer

Juliane Koepcke was 17 years old when a plane crash left her stranded in the rain forest of Peru. Listen to Episode 1 of Killer Biographies for the full story! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/killer-biographies/id1685759787

Posted in ANIMALS, COURAGE, PODCAST, SHIPWRECKS, SPIRIT | 2 Comments

CHRISSIE HYNDE

Posted on April 10, 2023 by Kit Troyer

Two songs remind me of a spring evening back in the late 1980s. The songs are “When Will I See You” and “Every Mother’s Son,” both by the Pretenders. But how can that be? Neither song had been released. And … Continue reading →

Posted in CHILD REARING, LITERATURE, MUSIC, MY CHILDHOOD, SPIRIT | 23 Comments

HARVARD CAN DO BETTER

Posted on October 13, 2022 by Kit Troyer

There will always be human activities which the passing of time reveals to have been horrible, backward, unethical, or just plain dumb. Laboratory experiments on animals will wind up in this category, I think. The truth is, most experiments are … Continue reading →

Posted in ANIMALS, COURAGE, DOGS, SPIRIT | 41 Comments

ORIENTATION

Posted on September 23, 2022 by Kit Troyer

One thing I’ve noticed about gardening — not only do I lose myself in it and sort of drift away in my mind, but sometimes I wind up in an awkward position trying to reach a particular plant or branch. … Continue reading →

Posted in ANIMALS, SPIRIT | 20 Comments

NEVER SHIRKED A TASK

Posted on July 27, 2022 by Kit Troyer

I’m headed to Montana tomorrow to meet up with my siblings and our mom. We’re going to spread the ashes of our father, Thomas A. Troyer, who died in May at age 88. Each of us had our own relationship … Continue reading →

Posted in CHILD REARING, DOGS, HEROES, MOVIES, MY CHILDHOOD, SPIRIT | 74 Comments