(then as farce? I kid, I kid): On this day, June 20, in 1958, FBI headquarters learned of actor Ronald Reagan’s desire to star in the film “The FBI Story,” but the bureau rejected the idea because of Reagan’s association with alleged Communist front organizations in the 1940s. more–and Reagan played a dashing Cold War liberal in real life, as recounted in Red Star Over Hollywood. My review of that book isn’t online any longer, unfortunately, so I will just... Read more
here: To students of church history, Esther Edwards Burr (1732-1758) is known today as one of eleven children born to Sarah and Jonathan Edwards, America’s greatest theologian. To students of American history, she is known as the mother of Aaron Burr Jr., Thomas Jefferson’s vice president who mortally wounded Alexander Hamilton in an illegal duel in 1804. When Aaron was all of 19 months old, she recorded in a letter that he was “a little dirty Noisy Boy . . .... Read more
reports: …The most recent Pentagondata show that a slight majority — 52% — of troops who have committed suicide while on active duty were never assigned to Afghanistan or Iraq. The numbers, from the years 2008 to 2011, upend the popular belief that a large increase in suicides over the last decade stems from the psychological toll of combat and repeated deployments to war. To researchers trying to unravel the causes of the rise, the statistics suggest that the mental... Read more
various good stuff in the First Things tribute to the late Will Campbell, but this part leaped out at me: My favorite Will Campbell story is about a Baptist pastor he once knew in Louisiana named Thad Garner. Despite his affable smile and trips to the Holy Land, Reverend Garner was not a model pastor. One day Campbell cornered him with a question, “Thad, why did you ever decide to be a Baptist preacher?” “’Cause I was called, you fool!”... Read more
Because these days traditions may need a little high-tech help. Take Them a Meal seems like a good idea. Read more
Patron of actors and dancers. Here’s my review of the terrific Ballets Russes exhibit at the National Gallery again–why not check it out today if you’re in DC? And here’s Plisetskaya as the Dying Swan: (and more where that came from) Read more
I overspent and underthought at the farmers’ market this week, so now I’m scrambling to eat stuff before it goes bad, even if it doesn’t seem to go together really well. A CHALLENGE. So far I have made three meals basically just to use stuff up and they’ve all been ridiculously, startlingly delicious. In this post: three things which shouldn’t have tasted good. Turnip Greens and… Herbs? Okay.: I cut the greens off of a medium-sized bunch of hakurei turnips.... Read more
Hey people, it’s that time again where I try to get you to do my homework–I mean, when I ask for your recommendations! I’m looking for stories about making amends: trying to acknowledge and in some way atone for harm done to another person. Novels are great! Movies, memoirs, concept albums… whatever comes to mind. Email me at [email protected] or use the charming envelope link to your right. Read more
Wish You Were Here is a slight Australian suspense flick about a married couple, expecting their third child, who go on a tourist jaunt to sunny Cambodia with the wife’s sister and the sister’s beau. After a night of hard partying the boyfriend can’t be found. The married couple return to Australia as the girlfriend stays behind to try to find her man; when she comes back, still alone, it’s obvious that she’s hiding something–and so is her sister’s husband.... Read more
audio and other materials now online. And you can read a post I wrote riffing on my experience on the panel here. Read more
Eve Tushnet
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