Wednesday Notes

On 23 May, UC, Davis, hosted a panel on"Historical Scholarship and the New Media," i.e., blogging. The panel included Brad DeLong, Scott Eric Kaufman, Tedra Osell, and Ari Kelman. You can watch a video of it here. Eric Rauchway,"What I Learned at the Blogging Panel," Open University, 5 June, revisits the discussion and draws a suggestive distinction between the kind of work that"history department historians" and"economics department historians" do. The latter may be more obviously adaptable to blogging.

rachel features "UNBEARABLY HOT" 13th and 18th century bookporn at a historian's craft.

Scott Horton,"Why Dickens Matters," Harper's, 3 June, argues that Bleak House is the finest of Dickens' novels and that they matter because he"intended to provide a social bond which will hold society together by reinforcing its most fundamental values."

Alan Jacobs,"Remembering Auden," Books & Culture, May/June, wonders why the Auden centennial gets so little attention. He was, after all, arguably the finest of the 20th century's English-speaking poets.

As"The Sopranos" draws to its end, Scott McLemee's"C. L. R. James Meets Tony Soprano," Inside Higher Ed, 6 June, revisits James' analysis of the gangster archetype in mid-20th century America.

George Packer,"History Boys," New Yorker, 11 June, is a fine essay about"Frost/Nixon" and historical memory. Thanks to Manan Ahmed for the tip.

James Livingston,"Social Amnesia on Iraq," Progressive Historians, 5 June, takes on the debate about American withdrawal from Iraq.

Robert Dallek,"Shining a Halogen Light on a Senator's Dark Corners," NY Times, 5 June, reviews Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta, Jr., Her Way: The Hopes and Ambitions of Hillary Rodham Clinton; and Michiko Kakutani,"Today's Managing Partner in Team Clinton & Clinton," NY Times, 5 June, reviews Carl Bernstein, A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton.