Michael O’Malley is Professor of History at George Mason University. This interview is based on his new book, The Color of Family: History, Race, and the Politics of Ancestry (University of Chicago Press, 2024). JF: What led you to write […]
American identity
Have we lost our moorings as a society?
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman thinks so, and he makes some pretty good points. Here is a taste of his column, “How We’ve Lost Our Moorings as a Society“: …Almost 30 years ago I visited theĀ Atlantic ForestĀ in Brazil with […]
“How is it…that work became culturally ascendant, and the pursuit of a career achieved a kind of centrality in the American psyche?”
It is strange to ask people, upon first meeting them, about their religion, political views, or leisure activities. But it is perfectly acceptable to ask them about their work. Over at Inside Higher Ed, historian Steven Mintz asks: Why do […]
The Author’s Corner with Elizabeth Kalbfleisch
Elizabeth Kalbfleisch is Associate Professor of English at Southern Connecticut State University. This interview is based on her new book, Making the Radical University: Identity and Politics on the American College Campus, 1966ā1991 (University of Massachusetts Press, 2024). JF: What led […]
The Author’s Corner with Caleb Wellum
Caleb Wellum is Assistant Professor of U.S. History at the University of Toronto, Mississauga. This interview is based on his new book, Energizing Neoliberalism: The 1970s Energy Crisis and the Making of Modern America (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2023). JF: […]
The Author’s Corner with Alexandra Filindra
Alexandra Filindra is Associate Professor of Political Science and Psychology at the University of Illinois, Chicago. This interview is based on her new book, Race, Rights, and Rifles: The Origins of the NRA and Contemporary Gun Culture (University of Chicago […]
The Author’s Corner with Matthew Dennis
Matthew Dennis is Professor Emeritus of History and Environmental Studies at the University of Oregon. This interview is based on his new book, American Relics and the Politics of Public Memory (University of Massachusetts Press, 2023). JF: What led you to […]
The Author’s Corner with William A. Link
William A. Link is Richard J. Milbauer Chair in Southern History Emeritus at the University of Florida. This interview is based on his new book, The Last Fire-Eater: Roger A. Pryor and the Search for a Southern Identity (LSU Press, […]
Bono: The United States is “the greatest song the world has not yet heard”
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The Author’s Corner with Alan J. M. Noonan
Alan J. M. Noonan is an independent historian. This interview is based on his new book, Mining Irish-American Lives: Western Communities from 1849-1920 (University Press of Colorado, 2022). JF: What led you to write Mining Irish-American Lives? AN: I have […]
Can the “spirit of 1776 survive the history wars of 2021?”
America’s 250th anniversary is coming. It should be interesting. Here is Jennifer Schuessler at The New York Times: The story historians tell about the American Revolution has changed enormously since the Bicentennial. Uplifting biographies of the founding fathers may still […]
The four Americas
Geroge Packer identifies four national narratives in his recent piece at The Atlantic titled “How America is Fractured Into Four Parts.” I am sure I will be talking more about this piece in the future. “Free America” draws on “libertarian […]
What the heck is Rick Santorum talking about?
Please do not get your American history from my former U.S. Senator. Here is part of a recent lecture to the Young America’s Foundation: Let’s just get some facts straight: Some, but not all, Europeans came to North America to […]