Archives for 2023

Some of the biggest congressional fights in U.S. history

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Two fights almost broke-out this week on Capitol Hill. You can read all about them here. The most famous fight in congressional history happened in 1856 when Preston Brooks of South Carolina caned Charles Sumner of Massachusetts in the Senate […]

The Author’s Corner with Michael A. Blaakman

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Michael A. Blaakman is Assistant Professor of History at Princeton University. This interview is based on his new book, Speculation Nation: Land Mania in the Revolutionary American Republic (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2023). JF: What led you to write Speculation […]

Evangelical roundup for November 16, 2023

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What is happening in Evangelical land? Evangelicals continue to drive support for Israel. French evangelicals march against antisemitism. Matthew Lee Anderson on Karen Swallow Prior’s “evangelical imagination.” The Mike Johnson porn-blocker app story won’t disappear. Walter Kim of the National […]

On George Scialabba’s new collection of essays

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Followers of this blog know that I am a big fan of writer George Scialabba. (I have never met Scialabba, but I am guessing that he would be uncomfortable with the word “fan.”) If you are not reading Scialabba you […]

The Author’s Corner with David Houpt

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David Houpt is Assistant Professor of History at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. This interview is based on his new book, To Organize the Sovereign People: Political Mobilization in Revolutionary Pennsylvania (University of Virginia Press, 2023). JF: What led […]

Are you listening to The Way of Improvement Leads Home Podcast?

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We have had a jam-packed Summer-Fall 2023 season at the podcast that included: Theresa Runstedlter on the American Basketball Association and race. Daniel Hummel on dispensationalism Stephen Prothero on mid-20th-century religious publishing. Larry Eskridge on the Jesus People Rachel Swarns […]

Gen T

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Sinatra, Presley, Dylan . . . Swift?

Paging Joanne Freeman! Paging Joanne Freeman!

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What happened in Congress today? Former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) apparently elbowed Tim Burchett (R-TN) in the hallway. Burchett called it a “clean shot to the kidneys.” Here is CNN: GOP Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee accused […]

The Author’s Corner with John Wigger

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John Wigger is Professor of History at the University of Missouri. This interview is based on his new book, The Hijacking of American Flight 119: How D.B. Cooper Inspired a Skyjacking Craze and the FBI’s Battle to Stop It (Oxford […]

Happy University Press Week!

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I’ve published three books with university presses in my career and spent a lot of time at this blog promoting the work of American historians who publish with university presses. This is why I am happy to call your attention […]