Professor of History at The New School and Executive Editor at Public Seminar
This post was originally published at Public Seminar on December 27, 2017 What happens in the aftermath of a crushing political defeat? In October, almost a year after the election that brought us Donald Trump, I was at the Library of Congress immersed in the archive of a man named Paul Weyrich, and thinking about … More Rebuilding Democracy in 2018
This post was originally published at Public Seminar on December 20, 2017. In this column, I like to write about the conversations that I imagine might restore our political culture in the United States. Yet in the past several weeks, the wave of sexual harassment revelations that have hit educational, along with media, corporate, political, … More The Politics of Sex at Universities
In the five minutes between coming to terms with the special election for Senate in Alabama being a long night and going upstairs to brush my teeth, Birmingham, Montgomery and Selma came in and shoved Doug Jones, the Democrat, over the top. Goddamn. I mean, goddamn! I just want to come on down and hug all of … More Alabama, Goddamn
In his regular column yesterday, David Brooks proposed that citizens don’t need lawyers to adjudicate the culture wars that began back in the 1970s. Instead of litigating, Brooks asked, why not talk? Anticipating arguments in Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission made later that day at the Supreme Court, Brooks wrote that the baker in question, Jack … More Is It Just a Cake ?
Somewhere in between the assertion that Donald Trump has done nothing in his first year, and the President’s own claim that he has done everything, so many more things than ever before, believe me, is a record of action and inaction that will take years to fully understand. According to an ABC News/Washington Post poll released on November 5, 65% … More Death and Taxes
What is not to love about Robert Holden? A professor in the Department of Communication Design at New York City College of Technology, he is a lifetime New Yorker and was entirely educated in the city college system. A photographer and graphic designer with his own design firm, Bob Holden has won awards for civic … More Can A Republican Have Progressive Values?
I can only imagine what my father, a lapsed Methodist, would have said about charges from multiple women that Judge Roy Moore, candidate for Senate in Alabama, and famous for having illegally planted the Ten Commandments in front of his courthouse, had groped them as teenagers. “Jesus!” my dad would have yelled. To which my … More Can Roy Moore’s Candidacy Survive?
It’s a year after the American Election Day that shook the world, and a new book that seeks to explain the disaster of Donald Trump’s victory drops every few weeks. We political historians are scrambling to keep up. Last month, Hillary Clinton’s What Happened? hit the stands. How does it feel to be a smart and seasoned … More What Happens Now?
