I had a very challenging student some years ago. Extremely bright, attentive, focused, curious, well-read–all the things you want. But they answered every question immediately upon its asking, never raising a hand (sometimes answering while it was still being asked). […]
Archives for July 2023
There is a good chance Trump will lose Iowa in January 2024
On Friday,July 14th the GOP candidates for president will get a chance to speak to Iowa evangelicals. Bob Vander Plaats, the most powerful Christian Right activist in the Hawkeye State, is sponsoring the event. Tucker Carlson is hosting it. Fox […]
I can’t stop staring at this image
Some context here and here. I am sure there is something smart to be said here about how this ship is representative of the current state of American culture and consumer capitalism, but right now I am just staring.
On the “human nature” argument against socialism
Opponents of socialism argue that socialism will never work because human beings are selfish and will always look after their own interests above the economic interest of others. In other words, an altruistic and cooperative society is impossible due to […]
The New York Times closes its sports department
I grew-up in the New York metropolitan area and I have been a fan of New York sports for over fifty years. But I honestly cannot remember ever reading the New York Times sports page in print. I preferred the […]
The Author’s Corner with Dennis Todd
Dennis Todd is Professor Emeritus of English at Georgetown University. This interview is based on his new book, Patriarchy in Peril: William Byrd II and Slavery in Early Virginia (University of Tennessee Press, 2023). JF: What led you to write […]
Oh the Places We Went: Italia
If we have the choice, why not make things beautiful?
“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” (and some not funny things too)
In the opening number of Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, made into a film by the same name in 1966, the narrator/protagonist does his best to excite the audience about the […]
Presidential candidates love Animal House
Why do candidates keep campaigning at the famous movie frat house on the campus of Dartmouth University? Here is Sam Stein at Politico: There are a number of spots on the campus of Dartmouth College that would serve as bucolic […]
The bogeyman threat of Christian nationalism
David French wrote in The New York Times yesterday:Â Arguments for a ‘Christian nationalism’ are increasingly prominent, with factions ranging from Catholic integralists to reformed Protestants to prophetic Pentecostals all seeking a new American social compact, one that explicitly puts […]
A “Latino gay man” who is also a pathological liar invokes Rosa Parks
George Santos compares himself to Rosa Parks: This not only shows that Santos has no clue about American history or how to use the past in the present, but it is also the worst form of identity politics. Reminds me […]
DeSantis’s anti-LGBTQ ad is hateful and strange. It is also politically smart and savvy
Fasten your seat belt. Here it the ad: Here is conservative New York Times columnist Brett Stephens on the DeSantis ad: “I guess my main takeaway is that DeSantis isn’t going to be the next president. He makes Trump seem […]
Evangelical roundup for July 10, 2023
What is happening in Evangelical land? Church of England evangelicals continue to oppose same-sex blessings. David French on humility and Christian politics. Are evangelicals becoming less Southern Baptist? A Christian contemporary music duo is taking heat for appearing with musicians […]
The Author’s Corner with Janet Farrell Brodie
Janet Farrell Brodie is Professor Emerita of History at Claremont Graduate University. This interview is based on her new book, The First Atomic Bomb: The Trinity Site in New Mexico (University of Nebraska Press, 2023). JF: What led you to write The […]
Ice Dancing’s Feminist Insight
It’s sexual difference that makes possible the art, contends a former Olympian
Bringing it back: mourning clothes
There’s supposed to be a difference between history and heritage and historians are supposed to study the past for its own sake, not to make use of it. There’s a whole section in John Fea’s Why Study History? about uses […]
Sunday night odds and ends
A few things online that caught my attention this week: David French on MAGA America Richard Price: 18th-century dissenter Ornamental hermits The Yankee peddler A defense of the Cornel West presidential candidacy Culture wars, bipartisanship, and our understanding of the […]
Are historians attacking the right without asking about the left?
Johann Neem, professor of history at Western Washington University and the editor of the Journal of the Early Republic, thinks so. And he is absolutely right Here is a taste of his review of Kevin Kruse’s and Julian Zelizer’s edited […]
“What the hell is a Blizzard?”
After a campaign rally in Council Bluffs, Iowa today, Donald Trump stopped by a local Dairy Queen. Here is what happened: I am reminded of the time in February 1992 when President George H.W. Bush visited a Florida supermarket and […]
Hey Josh Hawley, about that Patrick Henry quote…
In case you missed it, on July 4th Josh Hawley, the conservative populist U.S. senator from Missouri, tweeted some words on Twitter that he claimed belonged to Virginia revolutionary Patrick Henry: The problem with Hawley’s tweet is that Patrick Henry […]