Writer

Kenneth Best

Ken Best served as editor of UCONN Magazine for 10 years. He is a co-host of the UConn 360 Podcast. He previously covered news and sports in Connecticut for The New York Times, edited the Weekend section for the Stamford Advocate and Greenwich Time, wrote arts and culture stories syndicated by the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service and was the media coordinator for Yale-New Haven Hospital. During the summer of 2015 he hosted “Walking a Blues Road,” a weekly program on WHUS in Storrs based on the holdings of the Samuel and Ann Charters Archives of Blues and Vernacular African-American Musical Culture at UConn’s Thomas J. Dodd Research Center. He is the author of Eight Days a Week: An Illustrated Record of Rock ‘n’ Roll (Pomegranate Books).


Author Archive

View of United Nations forces, traveling in trucks, crossing the 38th parallel as they withdraw from Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, 1950. (Photo by Interim Archives/Getty Images)

UConn Expert Sees Tensions Rising on 70th Anniversary of Korean War

On the 70th anniversary of the start of the Korean War, UConn's Alexis Dudden says prospects for a genuine peace on the peninsula are deeply uncertain.

Unearthing Evidence of More Sophisticated Manufacturing in the Bronze Age

A UConn Humanities Institute Fellow's work took him to a region of the Middle East where he found evidence of complex manufacturing and trade from the Bronze Age.

Antiwar protesters in 1965 stand to the left of a counter-demonstrator with a sign reading "The Only Good Communist is a Dead Communist."

Race, Far-Right Politics Had Large Role in Shaping U.S. Cold War Policies

A UConn scholar says domestic politics played a larger than recognized role in shaping US foreign policy during the Cold War.

A picture of UConn Stamford at night, with cars driving by, leaving streaks of light behind them.

UConn Stamford Student Leader Is Phi Beta Kappa Public Service Scholar

The president of the Student Government Association at UConn Stamford is one of just 20 students in the country to win a prestigious public service scholarship.

"The Presentation," a 19th century painting depicting a celebration for the first black Union Army soldiers from New York as they set off for battle in New Orleans.

UConn Professor Tells How Sons of Slaves Overcame Obstacles to Pursue Education

UConn's Anna Mae Duane discusses two African American men whose antebellum lives ask a still-relevant question: What does it mean to be American?

Musician Little Richard performs on the recording studio at a microphone and piano in circa 1959.

UConn Historian Considers the Legacy of Little Richard, Architect of Rock ‘n’ Roll

UConn historian Jeffrey Ogbar discusses the career and legacy of pioneering rock 'n' roll artist Little Richard.

Dr. Mervyn F. Silverman, Director Of Health for the City and County of San Francisco, displays poster and leaflets during the early years of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Looking at the Social Side of COVID-19 Through HIV Research

UConn researchers say the HIV/AIDS epidemic offers important lessons for confronting the COVID-19 pandemic.

An unilluminated "On Air" light in the closed studio of WHUS.

WHUS Airs New Programming as Staff Records Shows at Home

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced WHUS from their on-campus studio, but original programming continues.

A screen showing members of the UConn Choirs performing online.

UConn Choirs Go Virtual with ‘Old Connecticut’ Alma Mater

Unable to perform in their normal venues because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the UConn Choirs have taken to the Internet.

A student in a face mask stands in a mostly deserted part of campus during the COVID-19 pandemic.

UConn Students Reflect: Writing About Pandemic Validates Feelings

UConn students reflect on the experience of writing about their lives during the COVID-19 pandemic for a class.