Week of May 6, 2013

Up Front

The Politics of Mother's Day Rebecca Jo Plant The originator of Mother's Day would be appalled by the commercialization of a "holy" day. Tags: Mother's Day, radicalism, Anna Jarvis, commercialism

HNN Book of the Month: Sensing the Past by Jim Cullen Tags: books, Book of the Month, Jim Cullen, Sensing the Past

News at Home

The NYT Ignores USDA Discrimination Pete Daniel The USDA discriminated against minority farmers for decades, but critics of the repayments program seek to rewrite history, and the Grey Lady is helping. Tags: Pigford v. Glickman, discrimination, NYT, USDA

News Abroad

And Then There Was One Tom Engelhardt Imperial gigantism and the decline of planet Earth. Tags: climate change, empire, Soviet Union, United States

Yet Another Reason Afghanistan is Like Vietnam Jeremy Kuzmarov U.S.-fueled corruption based on heroin a staple of both Vietnam and Afghanistan. Tags: CIA, Hamid Karzai, heroin, Vietnam

Keeping Him Upright... Josh Brown's Life During Wartime Tags: Life During Wartime, Hamid Karzai, corruption, drones

Historians & History

Trashing Keynes for Being Gay is Nothing New David Austin Walsh Niall Ferguson says J.M. Keynes's theories are flawed because he was gay. This argument is surprisingly common amongst conservatives. Tags: economics, homosexuality, John Maynard Keynes, Niall Ferguson

Getting Beyond the "Clash of Civilizations" David Cannadine Samuel Huntington's famous thesis appeals to pundits, but it ignores the nuances of history. Tags: clash of civilizations, global history, Islam, Samuel P. Huntington

May 8: Victory in Europe Day Robert Huddleston Celebrating the final triumph over Nazism with a personal story of the last days of World War II. Tags: fighters, He 162, planes, VE Day

George Washington: The Forgotten Emancipator Thomas Fleming The first president wanted to end slavery, but preserving the Union was more important. Tags: American Revolution, Civil War, George Washington, slavery

It's Not You, Stonewall, It's Me Wallace A. Hettle An open letter on breaking up with Stonewall Jackson. Tags: Chancellorsville, Civil War, Confederacy, Stonewall Jackson

Philosophy Matters, Because When It Goes Wrong... Yvonne Sherratt Philosophers are an oft-ridiculed bunch, but philosophy is dangerous in the wrong hands. Like the Nazis. Tags: democracy, humanities, Nazism, philosophy

No Kinky Porn, Please -- We're English Robin Lindley Julie Peakman's research on eighteenth-century English erotica reveals a surprisingly vanilla attitude to sex. Tags: England, erotica, interviews, pornography

Education

The Problem with School "Accountability" Robert L. Urzillo The education reform movement's obsession with metrics ignores other factors. Tags: education, education reform, teaching, tests

Culture Watch

Play Ball, Jackie Steve Hochstadt How Jackie Robinson captured the heart of Jewish Brooklyn. Tags: 42, African American history, baseball, Jackie Robinson

A Loving Trip Back to a Different America Bruce Chadwick A Trip to Bountiful serves a healthy dose of nostalgia. Tags: 1947, plays, Texas, theater reviews

Who are You Calling Nancy Boy? Bruce Chadwick Nathan Lane is a delight in The Nance, the story of 1930s Broadway camp. Tags: Nathan Lane, plays, The Nance, theater reviews

Books

Review of Michael J. Gerhardt's The Forgotten Presidents Jim Cullen A dry book for dry presidents, but useful nonetheless. Tags: executive branch, Forgotten Presidents, Jim Cullen, Michael J. Gerhardt

Review of Edward Achorn's The Summer of Beer and Whiskey Murray Polner How an unscrupulous German tavernkeeper made baseball America's pastime. Tags: baseball, beer, Missouri, St. Louis