The Great Dismal Swamp is a massive swamp located along the border of Virginia and North Carolina. George Washington was a shareholder in the Dismal Swamp Company, a venture in land speculation that tried to drain the swamp and turn […]
Archives for April 2021
Brazilian evangelicals oppose church closings
If you have been following the COVID-19 outbreaks in Brazil I think you will find an upcoming Current feature insightful. “How Long,” a piece by Brazilian public intellectual Alexandre Brasil Fonseca, will appear this week. Stay tuned. In the meantime, […]
Some evangelical pastors want their congregations to avoid the “scam-demic” COVID-19 vaccine
We have been keeping eye on the resistance to the COVID-19 vaccine in some conservative evangelical quarters. Here is the lastest: FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — At River West Palm Beach Church, Pastor Corey Erman stood in front of the congregation […]
How Joe Biden is strengthening Obama’s legacy on health care
Last week on Current I drew some connections between Obama and Biden. Today John Harwood of CNN does the same. Here is a taste of his recent piece: With sweeping economic recovery plans, President Joe Biden seeks his own legacy […]
The Author’s Corner with Kelly Jones
Kelly Jones is Assistant Professor of History at Arkansas Tech University. This interview is based on her new book, A Weary Land: Slavery on the Ground in Arkansas (University of Georgia Press, 2021). JF: What led you to write A […]
What Trillions Can’t Buy
The success of the American Rescue Plan hinges on a consensus we appear to lack
Sunday night odds and ends
A few things online that caught my attention this week: Handwritten letters Loggers and environmentalists Did Biden hit the wrong Georgia? Nancy Isenberg on J.D. Vance How Annette Gordon-Reed uses social media Wheaton College and evangelical missions The most interesting […]
What happens when you watch “The West Wing” during the Biden era?
Damon Linker explains in his column at The Week: The West Wing is what you get if you take the outlook of the most committed Democrats during the two terms of Bill Clinton’s presidency, add an overlay of rhetorical grandiosity derived […]
Do GOP lawmakers REALLY want to vote against Biden’s infrastructure plan?
Ron Brownstein thinks it is a bad political move: With their opposition to President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan, Republicans are doubling down on a core bet they’ve made for his presidency: that the GOP can maintain support among its key […]
Michelle Cottle offers a “dictionary for these polarized times”
The premise of Cottle’s piece at The New York Times is that Democrats and Republicans no longer speak the same language. Take, for example, the phrase “fake news”: Pre-Trump, most folks thought of fake news as media sources that trafficked […]
Trump endorses Rubio
My how things have changed:
The House Ethics Committee will investigate congressman Matt Gaetz
I haven’t following this story closely, but it is hard to believe Florida congressman Matt Gaetz isn’t guilty of something. Just like it is hard to believe that Andrew Cuomo isn’t guilty of something. I am glad to see the […]
Biden sets-up a commission on Supreme Court reform
Here is Michael D. Shear and Carl Huse at The New York Times: President Biden on Friday ordered a 180-day study of adding seats to the Supreme Court, making good on a campaign-year promise to establish a bipartisan commission to […]
Some quick thoughts on the first week of CURRENT
This week we published ten essays as part of our launch of Current. I hope you enjoyed them. The most viewed post of the week was Tony Norman’s Born to be Reborn, a reflection on the new Bruce Springsteen-Barack Obama […]
2021 Guggenheim Fellowship winners announced
Several American historians won fellowships this year: Cindy Hahamovitch, B. Phinizy Spalding Distinguished Professor of History, University of Georgia Kevin J. Mumford, Professor of History, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Assistant Professor of African American Studies, Princeton University Heather Ann Thompson, Collegiate […]
“Cultural humility” vs “liberal humility” in the classroom
Baylor University political scientist Elizabeth Corey explains the difference between these two views of education in an excellent piece at National Affairs. I definitely find myself in the “liberal humility” camp (or at least I aspire to such an approach), […]
Is it time to bring back “School House Rock?”
I learned the preamble to the United States Constitution from watching School House Rock on Saturday mornings. (I often break into the “The Preamble” song when I cover the Constitution in my lectures). Historian Paul Ringel wants to revise the […]
Christian intellectual life: “strategy” or “vocation?”
Read Ross Douthat’s recent piece on Christian intellectuals. Now read Alan Jacobs’s critique of it. Here is a taste: It’s rare for me to disagree with Ross Douthat as thoroughly as I disagree with this reflection on Christian intellectuals. I disagree […]
Are Catholic universities losing their Catholic identities?
Over at Commonweal, Massimo Faggioli wonders if Catholic universities are “positioning and marketing themselves as part of the mainstream liberal-progressive realm of higher education.” Here is a taste of his piece: …Student enrollment is trending down, for a variety of reasons—from […]
Pence cashes in
Mike Pence’s Simon & Schuster-published memoir is scheduled for 2023, just in time for the next presidential election. The deal will put a $3-4 million dollar advance in Pence’s pocket. Here is CNN: Mike Pence has signed a multimillion-dollar, two-book deal […]