I often get asked something like this: “Why do you waste your time writing about Trump’s court evangelicals?” Or angrier people say this to me: “Give it up. You have Trump derangement syndrome. Start writing about something else.” I get […]
historian's vocation
Lepore: Let historians judge Trump
As Jill Lepore writes in her recent piece at The Washington Post, several politicians, pundits, and commentators are calling for a truth and reconciliation commission to deal with Trump and his supporters after the president leaves office. Here is Lepore: […]
Joanne Freeman on Why We Need Historians During this Election Cycle
Here is a taste of the Yale historian‘s recent piece at The Washington Post: Historians have been busy in recent months, and for good reason. Almost every day brings a stream of political questions from all quarters: Has this happened […]
Do Evangelicals Care What I Think About Trump?
Historian David Swartz does not think so. Here is Swartz at The Anxious Bench: White evangelicals are doubling down on President Donald Trump. Their choices in 2016—Trump or Clinton—may have been distasteful to them then. But in 2019, their taste for […]
Max Boot’s Screed Against Historians
Max Boot is the Jeanne Kirkpatrick senior fellow for national security at the Council on Foreign Relations and a global affairs analyst for CNN. He is probably best known these days as an anti-Trump crusader. Boot is also the latest […]
On Historians, Public Debate, and Journalists
Last week The Chronicle of Higher Education published an interview with Harvard University historian Jill Lepore. We posted about it here. During the course of the interview, Lepore said: The academy is largely itself responsible for its own peril. The retreat […]
Yoni Appelbaum on Historians Writing for the Public
If you don’t know about Yoni Appelbaum, he is the ideas editor at The Atlantic. He was also our guest on episode 3 of The Way of Improvement Leads Home Podcast. In this video, Appelbaum chats with John Dichtl of the […]
The Making of a Christian Historian
Baylor University historian Barry Hankins tells his story: “I was born to be a point guard; but not a very good one.” I wish I had written that line. It certainly sums up my college basketball career. But as you […]
Ed Ayers
This is a great piece on the noted American historian. A taste of Gary Robertson’s article at Richmond Magazine: In a life that continues to be marked by leadership, accolades and influence, Ed Ayers — the son of a Tennessee used-car […]
Eric Foner Talks History
Over at History News Network, Erik Moshe continues his series of interviews with historians . This time his subject is Columbia University historian Eric Foner. Here is a taste: What is your favorite history-related saying? Have you come up with […]
An Interview with Allen Guelzo
Over at History News Network, Erik Moshe interviews Gettysburg College historian Allen Guelzo. Here are Moshe’s questions: What books are you reading now? What is your favorite history book? Why did you choose history as your career? What qualities do […]
Public History and the Church (or why I do what I do)
In the last few days, several folks have asked me why I get so “bent out of shape” about the likes of David Barton and the “court evangelicals.” One noted American religious historian regularly implies on Twitter and in blog […]
More on Historians as Pundits
Today we published two posts on a small debate raging over how historians should engage in public discourse. After Moshik Temkin published a piece at The New York Times titled “Historians Should Not Be Pundits,” Julian Zelizer and Morton Keller […]
Historians: Take Notes!
Check out Fernanda Zamudio-Suarez‘s piece at The Chronicle of Higher Education on historians, archivists, and scholars who are taking notes, keeping journals, tweeting, and blogging about the age of Trump. As part of the story Fernanda Zamudio interviewed Rebecca Erbelding of […]
Trump’s Remarks Are Drawing Historians Out of the Ivory Tower
Check out Graham Vyse’s piece at The New Republic in which he suggests that Donald Trump is radicalizing American historians. I am not sure if “radicalizing” is the right word here. Historians have been radicalized for a long time. The […]
Scott Culpepper's "Call to Courageous Christian Scholarship" in the Age of Trump
Scott Culpepper teaches history at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa. In a guest post at The Anxious Bench he exhorts Christian scholars to courageously pursue their vocations in the age of Trump. It is a wonderful piece. Here is […]
Is History Hot?
Over at The Anxious Bench, Chris Gehrz responds to Jason Steinhauer‘s recent piece for Inside Higher Ed about how history can contribute to public life. Here is a taste of Gehrz’s piece: I’m glad that more and more of us seem to […]
On the Dangers of Court Historians
Does the office of the President of the United States need a council of historians? Two Harvard professors–Graham Allison and Niall Ferguson–think that it does. In an Atlantic article that has been making the rounds on history-related social media, Allison and […]
More Historians on "Historians Against Trump"
The debate over whether historians should sign a letter opposing Donald Trump’s POTUS candidacy has received a lot of attention. (See our coverage here). A few of these conversations took place yesterday on my Facebook page. I asked some of […]
Some Autobiographical Reflections on Doing "Academic History" and Writing History for Public Audiences
I usually do a few of these posts a year, as the spirit moves. Having a blog means that I can occasionally write autobiographically. Sabbaticals provide opportunities to do more of it. So here we go again. Over at the […]