S.C. The eight-month odyssey is called Around Alone. Nowadays those Big Shoulders are shrugging again, putting Chicago through yet another transformation. A lakefront highway has been moved. An airport is to become a park. Health costs in Japan are soaring as the population ages.
Insurance funds are in debt and sinking deeper.
The system is bleeding from duplicated medical tests, overprescribed drugs and lengthy hospital stays. In its Washington home, the Smithsonian Institution reflects all stone and brick and permanence. But it turns into a pretty spry outfit on the road. The flash of Broadway, the forlorn prairie schoolhouse, the murky mysteries of the Florida manatee are among Americana being celebrated in shows moving from the National Mall to a shopping mall near you. It's a touch of the human experience, on wheels.