The reports on Joe Biden’s press conference yesterday are pretty predictable. A Fox News headline called it a “total disaster.” The New York Post called is an “utter disaster.” The New York Times reported on the event with little overt […]
Archives for January 2022
Evangelical roundup for January 20, 2022
What is happening in Evangelical land? There is a long history of white evangelicals taking shots at Martin Luther King Jr.’s “liberal theology.” Tim LaHaye did it in 1968 and on Monday Al Mohler did it, albeit in a softer […]
The Tower of Babel and The American Experiment
Reinhold Niebuhr invites us to recognize—and learn from—our own collapsing Towers of BabelÂ
Nudity in the Bible?
There were a lot of pictures of naked people in 19th-century Bibles. Here is historian Joseph Slaughter at The Panorama: Every now and then, work in the archives produces moments that jar us out of our misplaced assumptions. The biggest […]
Will Christian colleges and universities survive?
There is A LOT to consider in Catholic moral philosopher Charles Camosy‘s recent piece at America. Here is a section that got my attention: As institutions’ connections to Christianity become frayed, other ideologies have gained ground. Too often, Christian values […]
The Author’s Corner with Marita Sturken
Marita Sturken is Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University Steinhardt. This interview is based on her new book, Terrorism in American Memory: Memorials, Museums, and Architecture in the Post-9/11 Era (NYU Press, 2022). JF: What led […]
Why did the chicken cross the road? Historians respond.
University of Chicago historian Kathleen Belew is teaching her students how different kinds of historians might respond to this age old question: Here are some the answers she has received:
Is professional wrestling fake?
Of course it is. But that doesn’t really help us understand its historic appeal. In a fascinating piece at the blog of the Journal of Intellectual History, historian Aaron D. Horton offers a brief history of this form of “entertainment.” […]
How did the 2022 Winter Olympics end up in Beijing?
Those who listen to The Way of Improvement Leads Home Podcast know historian Bruce Berglund. He last appeared on the show in February 2021 to talk about his new book on global hockey. You can listen to that interview here. […]
Episode 31: “Where’s the Christian Right?”
The GOP prepares for its 2004 convention. Episode 31: “Where’s the Christian Right” dropped last night. Subscribers to Current at the Longshore level and above new episodes of this narrative history podcast. Here is a teaser: If you like what you hear, and want […]
Have Mercy
Is it worth it to win the culture war but lose the words of Christ?
National Review turns on Fauci
The editors of one the leading (and still reasonably sane) conservative magazines in the country is calling for Joe Biden to relieve Dr. Anthony Fauci of his “duties at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as chief medical adviser […]
A database of the 1,715 members of Congress who owned slaves
The Washington Post has published a database of American enslavers. It includes some familiar names: Thomas Hart Benton, John C. Breckinridge, Preston Brooks, Aaron Burr, Pierce Butler, John C. Calhoun, Charles Carroll, Henry Clay, De Witt Clinton, Davy Crockett, Jefferson […]
The Author’s Corner with Brad Stoddard
Brad Stoddard is Associate Professor of History at McDaniel College. This interview is based on his new book, Spiritual Entrepreneurs: Florida’s Faith-Based Prisons and the Carceral State (University of North Carolina Press, 2021). JF: What led you to write Spiritual […]
Trump-JFK Jr. in 2024!!
It’s a winning ticket! 🙂 Here is Meridith McGraw at Politico: Ray Kallatsa is a die-hard Trumper who “definitely” wants to see former President Donald Trump run for office again in 2024. So it was natural that he’d travel from […]
Choosing Hope in a Time of Fear
Meaning and purpose are possible for each of us. But we have to choose them.
Tim LaHaye had some choice words for Wheaton College when the evangelical school hosted a memorial service for Martin Luther King Jr.
On April 7, 1968, Wheaton College, an evangelical Christian school in Wheaton, Illiinois, hosted a “community-wide memorial service” for Martin Luther King Jr. in the wake of King’s assassination in Memphis on April 4, 1968. The final paragraph of this […]
The Author’s Corner with Susan J. Pearson
Susan J. Pearson is Associate Professor of History at Northwestern University. This interview is based on her new book, The Birth Certificate: An American History (The University of North Carolina Press, 2021). JF: What led you to write The Birth […]
Is Biden’s presidency doomed? Some historical perspective.
Princeton’s Julian Zelizer offers some historical context at CNN: Those who are worried should find some solace in the fact that contemporary presidents have been able to come back from difficult moments like these. Challenging first terms don’t inevitably put […]
David Blight on fighting the Trumpian Lost Cause
The Yale historian wants us to keep battling for democracy. Here is a taste of his piece at The Guardian: On 6 January 2021, an American mob, orchestrated by the most powerful man in the land, along with many congressional […]