The Roundup Top Ten for March 12, 2021
The John Birch Society Never Leftby Rick Perlstein and Edward H. MillerJournalists are calling for the Republicans to follow the lead of William F. Buckley and stand up to far-right extremists in their ranks. The problem is that neither Buckley nor the GOP of the 1960s did any such thing, instead perfecting the technique of speaking to two audiences. |
What the Election of Asian American GOP Women Means for the Partyby Jane HongThe success of Asian-American Republican women candidates in Orange County suggests that the parties' efforts to appeal to a multiracial electorate must focus on the distinct histories and concerns of ethnic communities. |
The Coronavirus Killed the Gospel of Small Governmentby Zachary D. CarterRevisiting the work of Keynes highlights the fact that struggles to deal with the pandemic are not only public health failures but economic failures — an inability to marshal resources to solve a problem. |
Thucydides, Historical Solidarity, and Birth in the Pandemicby Sarah Christine TeetsA classicist reflects on Thucydides' account of the Athenian plague, and concludes that the point of historical knowledge is to empathize, not to strategize. |
Lessons From All Democraciesby David StasavageThe idea of the "torch" of democracy passing from one historical society to the present blinds us to understanding how popular sovereignty arises and why it's resilient. If we are concerned with protecting democracy, we must first understand it. |
Tweeting To Find Communityby Varsha VenkatasubramanianDon't fear Twitter, new historians. Use it for learning, networking, and fun. |
On Shedding an Obsolete Pastby Andrew Bacevich"Sadly, Joe Biden and his associates appear demonstrably incapable of exchanging the history that they know for a history on which our future may well depend. As a result, they will cling to an increasingly irrelevant past." |
Socialite Mollie Moon Used Fashion Shows to Fund the Civil Rights Movementby Tanisha C. FordEbony Magazine's Fashion Fair offered a platform to Black designers while raising money for civil rights organizations – more than $60 million over a half-century. |
How Black Americans Used Portraits and Family Photographs to Defy Stereotypesby Janette GreenwoodThe author and her students researched and curated an exhibition of historical Black family portraits and discovered the way that photography served as a tool for rejecting stereotypes in an era of ascendant racism. |
We, the Nation, Born Under This Treeby Sean ClearyA speech of Edward Everett and a painting by N.C. Wyeth create a mythical founding moment of an American nation conceived as a white homeland. |