Journalist – Historian – Speaker
There’s an ongoing debate about the extent to which medieval scholars need to be concerned about explicitly fighting racism as medieval scholars. I haven’t quite figured out how to write about the issues coherently. But the stakes, to me, are clear. Meet the Knights Templar International. Their FAQ wants you to know that they aren’t …
So part of my new job at the University of Minnesota is to convince students – and their families – that they can major in History and still be gainfully employed. The good news is that it’s true, they can. Even the Harvard Business Review says so. According to three new books, the answer is …
I have a few requests ONE: I would like The Stone, the New York Times philosophy column, to sometimes publish philosophers who are disabled and write about the intersections of philosophy and disability rights from that perspective. At current time, they have published two essays on disability and philosophy, one advocating that perhaps developmentally disabled people who cannot …
Tonight my family goes to Hamilton in Chicago. Hamilton is super important to my son, as I wrote for the Washington Post. We’ve been moved up to seats with easy access to exits. It’s apparently very loud. Also it’s late. We’re nervous, but ready to walk out and go home at any point if needed and count …
New York Magazine has a big story on how terrifying the climate change of the earth is. It’s long and scary and I kind of skimmed it honestly because I have deadline and moving to do. But the brilliant writer Emily DePrang pointed out this paragraph to me in which the author, for no particular reason, …
NPR did a segment on Game of Thrones and disabled characters. Neda Ulaby talked to Rebecca Cokley about Tyrion and asked me for some general overview. I grumbled about Shireen’s death (still pissed, not about her death, but the writing of it), and made a quip about ramps into castles being more important than magical cures. …
Boulder has an endowed visiting conservative prof. I’m not so keen on billionaire ideologues funding prof lines who have to adhere to their ideology (do they test them, like religious colleges test your faith?) Anyway, it’s gone fine. I am happy to report that the lectures were well attended and that we had none of the …
For people with disabilities, state government matters. Illinois finally has a budget, but it’s not a state on which I can gamble my son’s adulthood. We’re moving. “More house?” My son emphasizes the aspirated “H” as he climbs into our blue minivan. I pause and turn to look at him.“What?”“More … house.” This time he …
There’s a video of President Trump heading off his plane to his limo, and just wandering off down the runway, until someone turns him around to head back to the car … which was right in front of him. What’s Going On Here? pic.twitter.com/xC8ORMrblz — Yashar Ali (@yashar) July 4, 2017 How do we report …
Conservative prof Jonathan Marks has written a great piece defending Lisa Durden. I wrote about Durden last week. A few excerpts from Marks: This month, Durden appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight. At issue was a Memorial Day event, co-sponsored by Black Lives Matter NYC, and promoted as “a space for black people.” One commenter, listed …