THE GREAT MAN THEORY OF HISTORY. The ideological conflict between the “great man” school of history education and the “social history” school does nobody any good. The two “sides” are chosen primarily due to aesthetic sympathies, as far as I can tell–great man history, focused on certain towering individuals, feels individualistic and almost monarchic, while social history, focused on ordinary folks, feels communal and close to the People-with-a-capital-P. Social history can, but need not, sway into vaguely socialist territory, in... Read more

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS ON U.S. HISTORY EDUCATION. I’m going to post a bunch of thoughts related to this excellent essay, but first, here are some quotes to get you excited: It was time for one of those full-dress cultural sham-fights, like the earlier one about core values and “Western Civ,” that animate the op-ed pages every decade or so. We need new standards! Alas, with no galvanizing Sputnik to unlock real money and talent, and with no encircling foe to spark... Read more

“I’m no Humphrey Bogart. He gets slugged and he’s ready for action; I get slugged and I’m ready for pickling.” –Robert Gist, “Scene of the Crime” Read more

LOVE IN THE EASTERN WORLD: Great email from H.D. Miller. I only note that he’s taking issue with Denis de Rougemont’s narrow focus and to some extent his scholarship–not the philosophical conclusions de R. draws. Allow me for a minute to be a quiet voice in the wilderness calling out against de Rougemont’s version of the birth of Romantic love. In many respects, de Rougemont’s book is outdated. First up, most people, including the OED, accept that the Troubadours were... Read more

SHARK JUMPING IN HISTORY: So you all have sent many awesome replies to my request for Historical Shark-Jumps. Here are your comments. First, from Tom Hoopes, a better definition of jumping the shark than the one I provided (although since this definition also narrows the field of play, you’ll notice that it’s pretty much discarded in what follows. Honored more in the breach than in the observance and all that): 1) A shark-jump must be an attempt to salvage oneself... Read more

OF WHAT DID THE DUUMVIRATE DELIBERATE DURING THEIR ITINERARY?: (Sorry. It’s the only line from Ulysses I can do off the top of my head besides the idiotic stuff about the horsehooves tingaling, linglingling, prrfffttt, aaaaan.) Here’s what Ratty and I did in England. SUNDAY. Brompton Oratory. Many thanks to everyone who suggested this. We slept like two great sleeping things, so I missed the ornate Latin Mass, but the priest was deeply reverent even in the clipped and somewhat... Read more

“WHEN IT’S THREE O’CLOCK IN NEW YORK, IT’S STILL 1938 IN LONDON” (Bette Midler): General thoughts on England as vs. America. 1) Midler isn’t right, of course, but she isn’t entirely wrong either. Both the Rat and I found that England felt weirdly Orwellian–not because of the “CCTV in Operation” spycam signs posted all over the place, but because of the bizarre sense of just-like-in-the-books English life shoved up against the year 2002. Red-faced, white-haired old guys hawking fruit, beer... Read more

Well she got her daddy’s car And she’s cruisin’ through the blogwatcher stand now Seems she forgot all about the library Like she told her old man now And with the radio blasting Goes cruising just as fast as she can now… Blogadder: Reply to The Rat re marriage. Expect more from our rodent friend presently. Russo’s Republic: Sara’s speech on abortion. UPDATE: Julian Sanchez rebuts Russo here; her reply is here. My comments: 1) Can’t every single one of... Read more

“Lili, a sizzler at the Fol-de-Rol. A figure like champagne and a heart like the cork.” –Robert Gist, “Scene of the Crime” Read more

POPULATION CONTROL IS UNDEMOCRATIC AND ILLIBERAL. De Feo’s YFP cover article is online, a fact I had not known before. Read more