Kathryn Olivarius is Assistant Professor of History at Stanford University. This interview is based on her new book, Necropolis: Disease, Power, and Capitalism in the Cotton Kingdom (Belknap Press of Harvard University, 2022). JF: What led you to write Necropolis? KO:...
inequality
How did Democrats lose “Joe Bailey”
Over at Dissent, historian Gabriel Winant reviews two new books on working people. The first is David Paul Kuhn’s The Hardhat Riot: Nixon, New York City, and the Dawn of the White Working-Class Revolution. The other is Jacob S. Hacker...
Why don’t white evangelicals vote for Democrats?
Historian Daniel Williams, in a thought-provoking piece at The Anxious Bench, asks: Why have white evangelicals been so antipathetic to Democrats, even before their disagreements with Democrats over abortion or LGBT issues emerged? And can anything ever convince them to...
Frederick Douglass on Economic Inequality
Historian Matt Karp introduces us to Douglass’s papers “The Accumulation of Wealth” (1856) and “The Land Reformer” (1856). Here is a taste of his introduction at Jacobin: No single document, of course, can solve the riddle of Douglass’s complex political...
The Author’s Corner with David Prior
David Prior is Assistant Professor of History at the University of New Mexico. This interview is based on his new book, Between Freedom and Progress: The Lost World of Reconstruction Politics (LSU Press, 2019). JF: What led you to write Between Freedom...
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...
Can the Constitution Really Save Us?
Ganesh Sitaraman, a law professor at Vanderbilt University and the author of The Crisis of the Middle-Class Constitution, argues in a piece at The New Republic that the Constitution of the United States was not designed to get us out...
Did the Founding Fathers Care About Inequality?
Over at The Atlantic, writer Alana Semuels argues that inequality was not an issue in revolutionary America. Here is a taste: …Is it really correct to say that America is built on a foundation of opportunity and economic freedom when that...
Quote of the Day
…the real poor are revealed as those who refuse to see themselves as such. They consider themselves rich, but they are actually the poorest of the poor. This is because they are slaves to sin, which leads them to use...
Nicholas Kristof’s Canadian Dream
Writing in his The New York Times column, Nicholas Kristof argues that the “American dream has derailed” as a result of inequality. In fact, the so-called “American Dream” is more likely to be found in Canada. Canadians receive free health […]
Ron Sider on Inequality
Ron Sider, president of Evangelicals for Social Action, wonders if “economic inequality of opportunity” is a sin. Here is a taste of his nuanced answer: In my book Fixing the Moral Deficit: A Balanced Way to Balance the Budget, I...
D.G. Hart: Are You Looking for Inequality? Go to College
Darryl Hart reflects on Andrew Delbanco’s recent New York Times op-ed on the elite nature of America’s most prestigious colleges. We blogged on Delbanco’s piece here. Here is a taste of Hart’s post at The Front Porch Republic: It doesn’t […]
Shackled and Drawn
Springsteen is very ticked off about inequality in America. Here is another song off the forthcoming Wrecking Ball. Great morning light splits through the chainAnother day older and closer to the graveI’m closer to the grave and come the dawnI...