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capitalism

Is capitalism secular?

John Fea   |  June 27, 2023

Eugene McCarraher, the author of The Enchantments of Mammon: How Capitalism Became the Religion of Modernity, does not think so. He discusses his 2019 book with Peter Mommsen at the Plough podcast: Listen here. A taste of the transcript: Capitalism, […]

Mike Pence: “Conservatives can either be for politically motivated government intervention in the private sector, or we can be against it.”

John Fea   |  June 26, 2023

As the populist candidates for president attack woke corporations, Pence is trying to shore-up his lane as the Ronald Reagan candidate. Today he turned to the libertarian Reason magazine to defend free markets. Here is a taste of his piece […]

The Author’s Corner with Benjamin Jenkins

Rachel Petroziello   |  June 19, 2023

Benjamin Jenkins is Associate Professor of History and University Archivist at the University of La Verne. This interview is based on his new book, Octopus’s Garden: How Railroads and Citrus Transformed Southern California (University Press of Kansas, 2023). JF: What […]

The Author’s Corner with Bart Elmore

Rachel Petroziello   |  June 12, 2023

Bart Elmore is Professor of Environmental History at The Ohio State University. This interview is based on his new book, Country Capitalism: How Corporations from the American South Remade Our Economy and the Planet (University of North Carolina Press, 2023). […]

“Saudi Arabia just bought professional golf”

John Fea   |  June 8, 2023

Here is the editorial board of The Washington Post: When the Saudi-backed LIV Golf was trying, early last year, to attract the PGA Tour’s top players, the legacy organization implied it would never align itself with a kingdom trying to […]

Pope Francis on “consumerist greed” and “selfish hearts”

John Fea   |  May 26, 2023

Here is Claire GiangravĂ© at Religion News Service: Pope Francis condemned “consumerist greed” and “selfish hearts” as responsible for the climate crisis in his yearly message for World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, which occurs on Sept. […]

Capitalist waste

John Fea   |  May 15, 2023

Here is The George Washington University historian Trevor Jackson at The Baffler: EVERYONE RECALLS THE SHORTAGES of toilet paper and pasta, but the early period of the pandemic was also a time of gluts. With restaurants and school cafeterias shuttered, farmers […]

The Author’s Corner with Sharon Ann Murphy

Rachel Petroziello   |  April 12, 2023

Sharon Ann Murphy is Professor of History and Chair of the Department of History and Classics at Providence College. This interview is based on her new book, Banking on Slavery: Financing Southern Expansion in the Antebellum United States (University of Chicago […]

The Author’s Corner with Joseph Giacomelli

Rachel Petroziello   |  April 10, 2023

Joseph Giacomelli is Assistant Professor of Environmental History at Duke Kunshan University. This interview is based on his new book, Uncertain Climes: Debating Climate Change in Gilded Age America (University of Chicago Press, 2023). JF: What led you to write […]

Capitalism is “siphoning our attention for profit”

John Fea   |  March 14, 2023

Over at Current Affairs, Nathan Robinson interviews Johann Hari, author of Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention. Robinson writes: Johann Hari has written multiple bestselling nonfiction books including Chasing the Scream, Lost Connections, and most recently Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention. All […]

Highlights from Harper’s forum on liberalism

John Fea   |  February 10, 2023

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 […]

Sometimes the “robber barons” and “greedy thieves” bring “death” to our hometown. Backstreets magazine closes shop.

John Fea   |  February 6, 2023

In July, 2022, the editors of the Bruce Springsteen fan magazine Backstreets responded to outrageously high ticket prices for Springsteen’s current tour. If you aren’t familiar with this story, get up to speed here and here. For the first time […]

The Author’s Corner with Thomas A. Castillo

Rachel Petroziello   |  January 23, 2023

Thomas A. Castillo is Associate Professor of History at Coastal Carolina University. This interview is based on his book, Working in the Magic City: Moral Economy in Early Twentieth-Century Miami (University of Illinois Press, 2022). JF: What led you to […]

What will they say about us?

John Fea   |  January 12, 2023

Cultural critic George Scialabba wonders what we might ask our nineteenth-century ancestors. Perhaps we might ask them why they believed it was legitimate for one person to own another? Or we might ask, “Why did women seem to you incapable […]

Do we need a national rail system?

John Fea   |  December 9, 2022

Jacobin writer Luke Savage thinks so. I am sympathetic to his argument. Here is Savage’s recent piece: Earlier this year, the federal board charged with overseeing America’s rail network called a hearing to discuss widespread complaints about higher costs and poor service. […]

What Prohibition accomplished

John Fea   |  December 6, 2022

Writing on the day (December 5) that marks the ratification of the 21st Amendment in 1933, political scientist Mark Lawrence Schrad wants us to think about what the movement to end the manufacture, transportation and sale of liquor in the […]

The Author’s Corner with Ahmed White

Rachel Petroziello   |  November 3, 2022

Ahmed White is Nicholas Rosenbaum Professor of Law at the University of Colorado Boulder Law School. This interview is based on his new book, Under the Iron Heel: The Wobblies and the Capitalist War on Radical Workers (University of California Press, 2022). JF: […]

The Author’s Corner with Lori J. Daggar

Rachel Petroziello   |  September 29, 2022

Lori J. Daggar is Associate Professor of History at Ursinus College. This interview is based on her new book, Cultivating Empire: Capitalism, Philanthropy, and the Negotiation of American Imperialism in Indian Country (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2022). JF: What led […]

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Tony Norman slams Springsteen and Ticketmaster

John Fea   |  July 27, 2022

Over the weekend I lamented the possibility that I might not be able to see Springsteen on his upcoming tour. Tony Norman, an opinion writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and a Current contributor, has my back and the backs of […]

Does the GOP still believe in free markets?

John Fea   |  April 22, 2022

Apparently not in Florida. Here is writer Robert Schlesinger at The New Republic: “The market is rational and government is dumb,” Dick Armey, one of the leaders of the 1994 Republican Revolution, liked to say. That used to be a cornerstone […]

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