Too bad. Reliable Sources was one of my favorite CNN shows. I tried to watch it every week because host Brian Stelter often had thoughtful guests, including scholars, on the show. I especially enjoyed his critiques of Fox News during […]
What is popular this week at Current?
Here are the most popular features of the week at Current: Michial Farmer: “Treasure of the Broken Land“ Thomas Hibbs, “Last Call“ Christina Bieber Lake, “Top Gun: The Joys We Can Imagine. The Joys We (Still) Can’t.” John Fea, “How to […]
My 2024 Presidential Election Predictions
Do not hold me to anything written below!
What Liz Cheney forgot to mention on Tuesday night about U.S. Grant and the end of the Civil War
On Tuesday night, Liz Cheney referenced General Ulysses S. Grant’s leadership of the Union army in 1864: In May of 1864, after years of war, and a string of reluctant Union generals, Ulysses S. Grant met General Lee’s forces at […]
The president of the American Historical Association on presentism
James H. Sweet is correct. Historians these days seem more interested in interpreting the past through the lens of the present. Here is a taste of his piece at Perspectives: Twenty years ago, in these pages, Lynn Hunt argued “against […]
Evangelical roundup for August 18, 2022
What is happening in Evangelical land? Scot McKnight reviews Katlyn Beaty’s Celebrities for Jesus. Tim Keller on the differences between pastors in big and small churches: An evangelical woman reflects on her pursuit of a Masters of Divinity. More on […]
Tom Nichols: “The United States now faces a different kind of violence, from people who believe in nothing…”
Political scientist Tom Nichols largely rejects the comparison between our current age and the United States Civil War. As he puts it, “at least the Civil war…was about something.” Here is a taste of his piece at The Atlantic: The […]
National Endowment for the Humanities funds 226 projects
Read the press release here. These funded projects caught my eye: Northern Arizona University Outright: $189,860[Landmarks of American History and Culture]Project Director: Richardo GuthrieProject Title: Racialized Spaces on Route 66Project Description: A combined virtual and residential program for 72 K–12 […]
“Capture the schools”
University of Pennsylvania education historian Jonathan Zimmerman reflects on the wars over history in schools. A taste: Last year, former Trump adviser Stephen K. Bannon likewise called on right-wing Americans to capture the schools. “The path to save the nation is […]
In sixty years American society has moved from “we shall overcome” to “you will not replace us”
Over at Zocalo Public Square, writer David Ulin offers some reflections on Joan Didion’s 1967 essay “Slouching Toward Bethlehem” and how her words continue to resonate. Here is a taste: What we’re seeing is not a matter of disagreement or […]
The “civic grit” of Liz Cheney
Today is primary day in Wyoming. It is likely that Liz Cheney will not win her GOP primary race against Trump-backed Harriet Hageman. This piece explains why. Over at The Bulwark, American historian James Banner lauds Cheney for defending the […]
Do you need help with history grant writing?
Check out this webinar sponsored by the Organization of American Historians: This webinar will help historians connect their existing aptitudes and skills to the process of institutional grant writing. Historians already engage in most of the common doings of the […]
Babylon in early America
Kristopher Stinson, a graduate student at George Mason University, is the author “American Babel: History and Empire in the Early American Republic,” an essay in the Summer 2022 issue of the Journal of the Early Republic. In a short post […]
Can the United States Constitution survive the social media age?
The United States Constitution, James Madison argued, only works when people are spread-out geographically. Social media shrinks that distance. Here is a taste of political scientist Danielle Allen’s piece at The Washington Post. When we teach constitutional history, we often […]
What should a college graduate know about slavery?
Historian Steven Mintz offers twenty-three things any college graduate should know about slavery. I like the idea of this post, but I would be happy if my general education (non-majors) students knew a handful of these facts. Here is a […]
A national conservative defines “national conservatism” as an effort to “legislate toward a Protestant vision” for America
The so-called “national conservatives” are meeting next month in Miami. Speakers include Florida governor Ron DeSantis, Missouri senator Josh Hawley, political scientist Yoram Hazony, First Things editor R.R. Reno, historian Wilfred McClay, and Southern Baptist seminary president Albert Mohler (we […]
American historian Sean Wilentz on Marco Rubio’s “fake populism”
Distinguished Princeton historian Sean Wilentz was recently part of a group of historians (and others) that Joe Biden invited to the White House to discuss the fate of American democracy. Marco Rubio called the group “elitists” and “snobs” working against […]
Does Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration of…the U.S. Constitution?
A lot of people grow tired of me calling this stuff out. I grow tired of having to call it out. But somebody’s got to do it. This stuff is not going away anytime soon. If the words of the […]
Why presidents can’t keep their documents
There is a reason why the FBI executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago last week. Here is a nice explainer from National Public Radio: For the first two centuries of U.S. history, outgoing presidents simply took their documents with them […]
Evangelical roundup for August 15, 2022
What is happening in Evangelical land? Study: 25% of American evangelicals have spoken in tongues. The first few tweets in Lisa Sharon Harper’s twitter thread on the Beth Moore grape crushing tweet: Beth Moore plays with her critics: The Winnipeg […]