EDIT: This is one of the most popular posts on the history of the blog. I assume many of you coming here are looking for confirmation that Vaccines are terrible. You won’t find them here. I am, however, fascinated by the way that anti-Vax language comes from both the right and the left and the…
One thing we learn from the history of the Crusades (and I think one of the core arguments of Jay Rubenstein’s work) – when military figures view contemporary events through an apocalyptic lens, we’ve got a recipe for extra special kinds of disaster. The influence of apocalyptic thinkers on the Bush White House always concerned…
Dear Governor O’Malley, This morning the family and supporters of Ethan Saylor will deliver over 338,000 signatures to you. They are asking you to do two things. First, call an independent investigation of the death of Ethan Saylor. Second, standardize training for police in how to handle situations like this in the future. Let’s take…
What diseases show up in contemporary music? Cancer? AIDS? I’ve never really looked, but I suspect there are pretty few songs referencing Whooping Cough or Polio playing on the radio these days. But if you dive into the American folk tradition, there’s plenty to be found. Take this old camp song: Way down yonder not…
I am not going to write thirty posts on vaccines this month. But I do think it’s worth visiting some of the breadth of the vaccine problem both nationally and internationally as we head towards Jenny McCarthy’s first day on The View. Oregon has become one focal point for the left-wing anti-vax movement, as opposed…
Jenny McCarthy month will last no more than a few days, I hope. She starts on “The View” on the 9th. I’ve written about her for The Atlantic and CNN. Monks with the Black Death One of the things that interests me about the anti-vax movement is how it has both right-wing and left-wing elements,…
Matt Walsh wrote a blog post called, “Dear Son, don’t let Robin Thicke be a lesson to you.” Great. I don’t like Robin Thicke and I have never even heard one of his songs, but I’m judgmental, and I’m sure I don’t like him. I did watch that MTV video with the sound off, as…
My semester began this Monday with the usual hectic sprint. My wife left the house (for the week) at 4 AM, I woke up the kids at 6, and by 8 I was on my way to the university. I called it manly. On Tuesday, keeping with the higher ed theme and my interest in…
Let’s also talk about how white men get rewarded for presenting a watered-down, uncritical, privileged image of feminism. — Shanley (@shanley) August 26, 2013 Ok, let’s talk about it. I don’t know Shanley, but she does have 6000 more twitter followers than I do, which is a pretty solid following. More importantly, she writes well…
In a few minutes I will be on Talk 910 with Gil Gross. I’ve been on AM 910, a San Francisco station, twice before, once to talk about gender with Gil and once to talk about Jenny McCarthy with Frosty. If you are coming to this post from the Talk 910 listener area, here is…