From Forgotten Phrase to American Myth
“As a City on a Hill.” Depending on your temperament you find the phrase inspirational or empty. Either way you know it because it is so familiar, as woven into the very fabric of the American idea as...
View ArticleUna Postal de Oaxaca, México
Escrito Por Eric Michael RhodesTraducido Por Gisel Valladares(Leer en inglés)
View ArticleSecrecy and Celibacy: The Catholic Church and Sexual Abuse
Over the last two decades, the Catholic Church has been buffeted by a series of sexual abuse scandals. High-profile investigative reports have uncovered cases of sexual abuse of minors, both boys and...
View ArticleThe Iberian Realm of Islam
The dar al-Islam, or realm of Islam, is very much in the news today: strife between Taliban and authorities in Afghanistan; the horrors of the Saudi assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; the US...
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At the Movies: Mary Queen of Scots
By Kristin OsborneMary Queen of Scots, directed by Josie Rourke“How cruel men are…”
View ArticleUnspoken Anxiety or Vivid Metaphor?
Noelle Gallagher writes that fear of venereal infection was “lurking around every corner” in the Britain of the long 18th century (1660-1800). Unspoken anxiety about such diseases permeated society at...
View ArticleModern China and Its Institutions
China is on everybody’s mind. It’s economic growth and military expansion have caused concern not just in the region but around the world. Klaus Mühlhahn has traced the rise of China through its...
View Article"Juntos Haremos Historia": AMLO and Mexico's Fourth Transformation
Andrés Manuel López Obrador (a.k.a.AMLO) rode to the presidency in 2018 by promising Mexico "juntos haremos historia" ("together we will make history"). Pundits have fallen over themselves trying to...
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July 2019: The Hamilton-Burr Duel
By Josh WoodIllustration of the duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr (1887).
View ArticleLong Hot Summers and Separate Societies
For two weeks in August 2014, the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, MO exploded in protest after police killed Michael Brown. For many it was an episode reminiscent of the “long, hot summers” of the 1960s.
View ArticleFrom Poll Taxes to Partisan Gerrymandering: Voter Disenfranchisement in the...
Voting is perhaps the most fundamental act of democratic citizenship. In a democracy, our political leaders receive their mandate, and the system itself derives its legitimacy, from the people who...
View ArticleRussia’s Lost Empire
Does the Russian nation consist solely of ethnic Russians living within its borders? Or does it also include ethnic Russians outside of Russia? Is it legitimate for the Russian government to exert...
View ArticleSanitizing American Tradition
Driving a colleague to the airport this Thanksgiving break, I took advantage of my captive audience to rehearse the impressions I was forming of the book which is the subject of this review: Jack David...
View ArticleBuilt Upon Bounty
The history of fishing predates our own species.Preserved wooden spears suggest that hominids began to hunt fish at least half a million years ago. This was not a haphazard operation, but rather a...
View ArticleWhen the Soviets Domesticated the West
Nikita Khrushchev’s “Thaw” (mid-1950s to early 1960s) led to the Soviet Union’s opening up to Western culture. The 1957 Moscow Youth Festival was a revelation for citizens of a country with sealed...
View ArticleUna Postal de Oaxaca, México
Escrito Por Eric Michael RhodesTraducido Por Gisel Valladares(Leer en inglés)
View ArticleClik here to view.
At the Movies: Mary Queen of Scots
By Kristin OsborneMary Queen of Scots, directed by Josie Rourke“How cruel men are…”
View ArticleWhen the Soviets Domesticated the West
Nikita Khrushchev’s “Thaw” (mid-1950s to early 1960s) led to the Soviet Union’s opening up to Western culture. The 1957 Moscow Youth Festival was a revelation for citizens of a country with sealed...
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