Joan DeJean is Trustee Professor of Romance Languages at the University of Pennsylvania. This interview is based on her new book, Mutinous Women: How French Convicts Became Founding Mothers of the Gulf Coast (Basic Books, 2022). JF: What led you […]
Archives for April 2022
A Current contributing editor on writing and motherhood in a pandemic
Over at The Chronicle of Higher Education, historian Nadya Williams writes about how the pandemic provided her with more opportunities to write. We at Current are thrilled about this. Earlier this year Nadya joined our team of contributing editors! (Check […]
Blest Be the Tithe that Binds
Practicing generosity—with creativity and good cheer
UFOs, testicles, and Tucker Carlson
Did you hear that Tucker Carlson has a new show? The pro-Trump, anti-vax, pro-Putin star of Fox Television seems to be putting the show to good use. Here is Philip Bump at The Washington Post: Tucker Carlson and his team […]
The Author’s Corner with Kathryn Olivarius
Kathryn Olivarius is Assistant Professor of History at Stanford University. This interview is based on her new book, Necropolis: Disease, Power, and Capitalism in the Cotton Kingdom (Belknap Press of Harvard University, 2022). JF: What led you to write Necropolis? KO: […]
Evangelical roundup for April 18, 2022
What is happening in Evangelical land? Richard Ostling notices Daniel K. Williams’s piece, “Five Emerging Factions in Evangelical Higher Education.” This impromptu evangelical worship service on a place is making the rounds on social media: More on how Ohio U.S. […]
How Much Cake?
Christine Emba’s Rethinking Sex leaves little doubt: We need a corrective from outside ourselves
Sunday night odds and ends
A few things online that caught my attention this week:T The fate of public intellectuals on the American center left Why do history books written by men sell better than history books written by women? More on the role of […]
Why pop music fans are willing to pay big bucks for a ticket to NYU’s graduation ceremony
Taylor Swift is the commencement speaker. Here is Insider: Taylor Swift fans are apparently begging for access to New York University’s 2022 graduation ceremony by offering students money online. The Grammy-winning singer is set to receive an honorary doctorate of […]
Is the current Republican Party compatible with democracy?
Timothy Shenk asks this question in a review of Matthew Continetti’s book The Right: The Hundred Year War for American Conservativism. Here is a taste of the review at The New Republic: Of course, January 6 was only the beginning. […]
Michael Kazin on the history of the Democratic Party
The Georgetown University historian is the author of the recently released What It Took To Win: A History of the Democratic Party. The guys at “Know Your Enemy” podcast talk with Kazin about the book: Listen here.
GOP withdraws from the Commission on Presidential Debates
Here we go: The Republican National Committee voted unanimously on Thursday to withdraw from its participation in the Commission on Presidential Debates, the organization that has long governed general-election presidential debates. In a statement, RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said the commission is […]
What is popular this week at Current?
Here are the most popular features of the week at Current: John Fea, “If the KKK opposes gay marriage, I would ride with them” Timothy Larsen, “Puritan Passions“ Paul Liukart, “Picking Up a Snake“ Sarah Huffines, “Bricolage“ Alan Godwin, “Running from […]
Is a Twitter edit button on its way?
I could sure use one. Here is the AP’s Tari Arbel: Twitter tweeted Tuesday that it is indeed working on a way for users to edit their 280-character messages, although it says the project has nothing to do with the fact […]
New poll: Fetterman and Oz lead Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate primary races
Source. The primary elections are May 17, 2022.
Dartmouth College will give Samson Occam’s papers to the Mohegans
In 1999 I published an essay on Dartmouth College founder Eleazar Wheelock‘s role in the “First Great Awakening.” My piece, “Wheelock’s World: Letters and the Communication of Revival in Great Awakening New England,” appeared in Proceedings of the American Antiquarian […]
Charlie Kirk on tall buildings
Watch this clip: Some comments: How many “developers” actually care what Charlie Kirk says? There are few high-rises where I live in central Pennsylvania. We do have farmers, but most of us are not “in the weeds,” growing food, and […]
Archivists are hard at work trying to save Ukraine’s digital history
Here is Ally Markovich at “Berkeleyside”: When Russia launched its war on Ukraine six weeks ago, a frenzied attempt to save the country’s cultural heritage from destruction began: Religious artifacts were moved underground to secret bunkers in Ukrainian cities. But […]
The Author’s Corner with David Silkenat
David Silkenat is Senior Lecturer of American History at the University of Edinburgh. This interview is based on his new book, Scars on the Land: An Environmental History of Slavery in the American South (Oxford University Press, 2022). JF: What […]
Evangelical roundup for April 14, 2022
What is happening in Evangelical land? Despite Donald Trump’s endorsement of David Perdue in the Georgia gubernatorial race, evangelicals are still backing incumbent Brian Kemp. Eric Metaxas interviews Rudy Giuliani. The conspiracy theories abound! Jenna Ellis and Eric Metaxas on […]