Professor of History at The New School and Executive Editor at Public Seminar
Academic Facebook has melted down again: this week, it is philosophy’s turn. At the center of the controversy is Rhodes College assistant professor Rebecca Tuvel’s article, “In Defense of Transracialism,” published in the most recent issue of the feminist philosophy journal Hypatia. Analyzing Rachel Dolezal’s disputed assertion that, having been born to white parents, she believes herself to … More What Happened at Hypatia?
As those of us who are college and university teachers gear up for the fall semester, our profession is briefly back in the news with a high focus on the heartbreak of college admissions. Let’s start with genuine heartbreak. Last Saturday, we learned that UC Irvine had rescinded acceptances for almost 500 students. The optics were pretty … More Scandals in Higher Education
We are all still breathless from last week’s near-repeal of Obamacare. As two Republican Senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, stood between the American public and a bill that would cut Medicare, defund Planned Parenthood, and throw the insurance industry into turmoil, keeping the consequences of the different bills straight became … More When Women Fight for Health Care: Public Seminar, July 31, 2017
Forty-five years ago today, a dozen women representing the Women’s Caucus at The New York Times began a civil rights revolution in journalism. Their July 19, 1972 confrontationwith publisher Arthur Ochs “Punch” Sulzberger and his board was, by 1974, a class action employment discrimination lawsuit, Boylan v. New York Times. In an earlier letter, the Caucus had … More When Women Sued the New York Times
Forty-five years ago today, all the President’s men were nervously awaiting the results of a planned break-in at an office at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. where the Democratic National Committee had established its 1972 campaign headquarters. Naughty, naughty. The White House’s shadow arm was a jolly crew nicknamed “the Plumbers:” among those who … More Watergate: A History Lesson
…I cannot publish this blog post at my main gig, Public Seminar, where we are rightly scrupulous about not running afoul of intellectual property distinctions. Taken a month ago, the photograph illustrates an article by Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman with the headline: “Trump Grows Discontented with Attorney General Jeff Sessions” (June 5, 2017). But … More Because I Have Stolen This Picture of Donald Trump From The New York Times…
As we begin to think about writing the history of the Age of Trump, my advice is to follow the money. For example, answer this question: how do CEOs make a fortune by killing businesses and putting working and middle class people on the unemployment line? If your answer is “Sending our beautiful jobs to … More Who Knew Running Yahoo Was So Hard? Marissa Mayer Takes One for the Team
Real New York City Conversation: I am walking up Seventh Avenue in Chelsea behind two thirty-somethings. He is telling She that he feels he is at an impasse in his professional life and that nothing seems to be going right. He: “I’m not sure what could happen that could change things for me at that … More That Smug Bastard
