Over at History Day, four military historians reflect on this question. They are Cathal Nolan, Peter H. Wilson, Vanda Wilcox, and Justin Marozzi. Here is a taste of Nolan’s piece: During the interminable wars among the city states of Renaissance […]
Way of Improvement
Highlights from Harper’s forum on liberalism
I finally finished the Harper’s forum, “Is Liberalism Worth Saving?” The forum featured Patrick Deneen, Francis Fukuyama, Deirdre McCloskey, and Cornel West. Here are a few things I highlighted: Deneen on populism: The other form of populism that liberalism fears […]
What is popular this week at Current?
Here are the most popular features of the week at Current: Here are the most popular posts of the last week at The Way of Improvement Leads Home blog: Here are the most popular posts of the last week at The Arena blog:
“Hey big Jon!”: Biden works the crowd
I love this. (And not only because my brother always greets me by saying, “Hey Big John”). Here is Jennifer Bendery at HuffPost, “The Best Part Of Joe Biden’s SOTU Address Happened After It Was Over“: On Tuesday night, millions […]
Song of the Day
RIP
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on LeBron James breaking his NBA scoring record
At his Substack, Kareem sets the record straight on a lot of the rumors. He is happy LeBron broke his scoring record. He corrects his old teammate Magic Johnson. He says he is more focused right now on his activism […]
Abortion and the State of the Union address
For some, Joe Biden is an accomplice to murder. They believe that the president confirmed this once again in Tuesday night’s State of the Union Address: For others, Biden did not spend enough time on abortion rights. And then there […]
Evangelical roundup for February 9, 2023
What is happening in Evangelical land? The Kings College is having financial troubles. The Anglican Church is divided over LGBTQ blessings. Paul Putz on the “HeGetsUs” campaign. Most evangelicals want to pass their beliefs along to their kids. Yes: 10% […]
LeBron may be the king, but he’s not THAT King
LeBron James broke the NBA scoring record last night. Here is the Nike commercial that aired on TNT immediately following LeBron’s breaking of the record: The soundtrack of this ad is obviously a Black church. Did anyone else have a […]
Remembering the Strand Bookstore’s best customer
His name was Tom Verlaine, the guitarist and lead singer of the 1970s band Television. Here is a taste of Colin Groundwater‘s piece at LitHub: If you swung by the carts that line the Strand’s exterior, where all the books […]
In 1970, Mississippi banned Sesame Street
Here is Kristin Hunt at The Washington Post: In April 1970, members of Mississippi’s newly formed State Commission for Educational Television met to discuss Big Bird and Cookie Monster. “Sesame Street” had debuted on public TV the previous November, and […]
Are the humanities making a comeback?
Here is a taste of Jennifer Kingson’s Axios piece, “STEM who? The humanities mount a comeback: Driving the news: When the University of California, Berkeley, reported an uptick in humanities majors this academic year, there was elation — and shock — at the […]
Mitt Romney: George Santos is a “sick puppy”
The Huffington Post is reporting on the Mitt Romney-George Santos confrontation at last night’s State of the Union Address. Watch: Here is a taste of Igor Bobic’s piece: Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) to take a […]
What is going on at The Kings College?
The Kings College is in serious financial trouble. Back in 2008,, when I was blogging at Paul Harvey’s Religion in American History, I wrote a piece on what I called “Manhattan Evangelicalism.” The Kings College featured prominently in that post. […]
Is Sarah Huckabee Sanders the best the GOP could do last night?
Frank Bruni of The New York Times nails it. Here is a taste of his recent column: I keep hearing and reading that many Republican leaders want to move on from Donald Trump. I can’t imagine why. His role in […]
“We’re just getting started….Let’s finish the job”
Joe Biden gave a strong speech last night. The Republicans heckled, but Biden did not back down. He actually seemed to enjoy engaging the hecklers and I think the back-and-forth worked to Biden’s favor. Who could disagree with these issues? […]
What were those 1870 buttons all about?
Did anyone wonder why some members of Congress were wearing “1870” buttons? Here is Rory Murphy at Local Today: An “1870” pin worn by members of the Congressional Black Caucus and others at the State of the Union address. As […]
What’s the deal with those AR-15 lapel pins that GOP members of Congress are wearing?
Will Bunch explains at The Philadelphia Inquirer. A taste: The sight in recent days of Santos and several of his Republican colleagues parading through the hallowed halls of the U.S. Capitol with a mini-celebration of a killing machine that serves […]
Steven Mintz: “I find it stunning that the World Socialist Web Site remains the place to turn if one truly wants to understand…the controversies surrounding ‘The 1619 Project.'”
At his blog at Insider Higher Ed, University of Texas American historian Steven Mintz offers a brief review of both the AP African American Studies course and the American Historical Review‘s forum on the 1619 Project. His take on AP […]
Will Ben Sasse, the new president of the University of Florida, bow to Ron DeSantis?
Yesterday was former U.S. Senator Ben Sasse’s first day as president of the University of Florida. We are all waiting to see how he will get along with Florida governor Ron DeSantis, especially as it relates to “wokeness.” Here is […]