We lost a great cultural critic and writer last week. I have benefited immensely over the years from Barbara Ehrenreich‘s work on social class in America. She is well-known for her 2001 book Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By...
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Social class and vaccination
The largest vaccination gap is based on class. Here is David Leonhardt at The New York Times: It is common to hear about two different demographic groups that are hesitant to receive a Covid-19 vaccination: Republican voters and racial minorities,...
What the Oprah interview with Meghan and Harry revealed
I have been fascinated with the responses to the article I posted about here. (What follows assumes you have read Brendan O’Neill’s piece). It is interesting to watch how the British royal family elicits such strong responses from Americans. Nothing...
What happens when a Black Marxist scholar wants to talk about race?
The killing of George Floyd and the subsequent protests have brought to light some serious differences on the American left. Take, for example, the case of Adolph Reed, a Black Marxist scholar at the University of Pennsylvania who was invited...
“Blue Collar” as a Sports Marketing Gimmick
In a just-released Episode 62 of The Way of Improvement Leads Home Podcast, I reminisce with our founding producer Drew Dyrli Hermeling about the time we may have offended ESPN’s Paul Lukas, a historian of sports uniforms and founder of...
The Class War Within the Class War
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxFKxglpM00&w=560&h=315] It was going to happen sooner or later. The progressive wing of the Democratic Party appears to have split. Some support Bernie Sanders. Some support Elizabeth Warren. Their non-aggression pact has apparently dissolved. Over at FiveThirtyEight, Clare Malone...
Some More Thoughts on the Populist Critique of “Elite Evangelicals”
For most evangelical Christians, the message of the Gospel transcends the identity categories we place on human beings. All men and women are sinners in need of redemption. Citizenship in the Kingdom of God, made possible by Jesus’s death and...
An Accidental Professor
I love reading stories of professors raised in working-class families. I thus need to read Jennine Capo Crucet’s recent book My Time Among the Whites: Notes from an Unfinished Education. The Atlantic is running a piece based on the book. Here is...
The Meaning of Trump’s “Winter White House” in the Wake of Irma
Rollins College historian Julian Chambliss puts Mar-a-Lago in some historical context. He argues that the winter White House is part of a “Florida dream” that is unsustainable. Here is a taste of Chambliss piece at Boston Review: Donald Trump calls his...
History Teaches Us That Pollution Hurts Some People More Than Others
Arica Coleman has a great piece at Time reminding us that pollution does not affect everyone equally. (HT: History News Network) Here is a taste: According to Carl A. Zimring in his book Clean and White: A History of Environmental...
The Democratic Malaise
This morning I picked up my copy of Christopher Lasch’s 1995 book The Revolt and the Elite and the Betrayal of Democracy and started reading it again. I am still trying to process it all from the perspective of the so-called age...
The Author’s Corner with Heath Carter
Heath Carter is Assistant Professor of History at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso University This interview is based on his latest book Union Made: Working People and the Rise of Social Christianity in Chicago JF: What led you to write Union Made? HC: While...
Chris Gehrz on Social Class and Christian Colleges
Chris Gerhz of Bethel University is at it again with his excellent analysis of Christian College life. (Someone needs to hire this guy as an administrator! Check out his series on “Ranking Christian Colleges“). This time Chris is examining the...
Is Obama a Class Warrior?
Writing at The New York Times, Mark Landler suggests that Barack Obama seems to be embracing the “class warrior” label that Republicans are trying to pin on him. He is fighting Tea Party and libertarian populism with some good old-fashioned...
Does Obama Have A White Working Class Problem?
John Judis thinks so and I agree with him. In a recent New Republic article Judis asks why Obama can’t connect with the working class. He writes: Here is a fact: Barack Obama has trouble generating enthusiasm among white working […]