Things We Take For Granted

Atlantic editor Vann R. Newkirk II talks to Kim about the mutability of memory, as seen through two portraits of the abolitionist John Brown. He also explains how a photograph of his mom helped him to appreciate the fragility of democracy in the United States, and why he tries to keep a garden wherever he goes.

See the portraits we discuss:

George Washington Carver

John Brown daguerreotype

John Brown painting

Marylin Thurman Newkirk