Author: Barry D. Wood
Barry D. Wood is a writer, teacher and journalist in Washington, DC. His focus is the global economy and financial markets. He has reported from 60 countries and specializes in US China relations, Eastern Europe and Southern Africa. His 2017 book is Exploring New Europe, A Bicycle Journey.
Thomas Jefferson, Natural Bridge, & My Great-Grandfather
I. Thomas Jefferson was smitten with the rugged beauty of the Natural Bridge deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains of southwestern Virginia. He visited this geographic wonder 120 miles from Monticello at least six times, describing its sturdy limestone arch 250 feet above Cedar Creek, as “the most sublime of nature’s works.” Natural Bridge, May 2022 (Barry D. Wood photo) Jefferson was enthralled both by the … Continue reading Thomas Jefferson, Natural Bridge, & My Great-Grandfather
Video: Teaching About Silicon Valley at Charles University
In Central Europe Fear Amid Unwavering Support for Ukraine
During a just completed three-week assignment in Prague, I found both overwhelming support for Ukrainian resistance and fear that the war could escalate. Blue and yellow Ukrainian banners wave defiantly from homes and public buildings. Russia’s brutal “special operation” has awakened memories of the 1968 Soviet invasion that crushed the Prague Spring freedom movement in Czech and Slovak lands. President Milos Zeman, assertively pro-Russian until … Continue reading In Central Europe Fear Amid Unwavering Support for Ukraine
Teaching at Prague’s Charles University
It’s a privilege to teach at Europe’s second oldest university (after Paris). Founded in 1348,named after a Bohemian king, Albert Einstein taught theoretical physics here in 1911/12. I taught a two-week elective course on technological innovation in the Silicon Valley. There were daily reading assignments for what would be discussed in each 80-minute class. There were seven students, undergraduate and graduate, six Czechs, one Slovak, all … Continue reading Teaching at Prague’s Charles University
Barry D. Wood 