Co-Executive Editor, Public Seminar and Professor of History, The New School for Social Research

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Half A Healthcare Bill

May Not Be Better Than None

March 18, 2017 • by Claire Potter

This morning, for example, Howe renamed the new American Health Care Act (AHCA) the "`Republican Participation Trophy' Health Care Plan." You know what he is talking about: those youth sports tournaments organized by candy-ass liberals and pansies where every kid gets a prize just for participating? The Party of Winners and ...

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If You Get Sick in Utah

Don’t Call Representative Jason Chaffetz

March 13, 2017 • by Claire Potter

For example: let's take Representative Jason Chaffetz's (R-Utah) ideas seriously. Chaffetz suggested to his constituents last week that, should they feel unable to afford medical care under the new Trumpcare legislation being floated by the GOP, they could cancel their cell phone plans and buy health insurance instead. Did Chaffetz actually ...

Race

What is the Purpose of Incarceration?

An OOPS Course

February 27, 2017 • by Claire Potter

Calls to greatly reduce, or abolish, incarceration in the United States, often do not address these many purposes, and are often not specific about what a post-incarceration society, or incarceration that did not rely on violence, would look like. When we examine incarceration over time, or outside a US context, ...

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Blogs, Social Media, and the Future of the News

A Spring 2017 OOPS Course

February 13, 2017 • by Claire Potter

This seminar is taught by Professor of History Claire Potter and sponsored by the Creative Publishing and Critical Journalism graduate program at the New School for Social Research. Week 1 | January 23 | Introduction Week 2 | January 30 | Getting the News Hunt Allcott and Matthew Gentzkow, "Social Media and Fake ...

Education

The Intellectual Integrity of Our Spaces

The Proposed Boycott of International Academic Conferences

February 3, 2017 • by Claire Potter

This morning it was brought to my attention that this boycott, and the AHA's response to the executive order itself, was being discussed on an AHA members' forum as an offense to US academic freedom. I do not have the right to reproduce what was said on a private forum, ...

Feature

The Room Where It Happens

Jeff Sessions Testifies

January 11, 2017 • by Claire Potter

If any of Donald Trump's Cabinet nominees are turned back, Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III is not going to be among them. Sessions, at the age of 70 still the "junior" Senator from Alabama, was one of three nominees to begin the confirmation process yesterday. While he faced skepticism, and even anger, ...

Feature

The Mo(u)rning After

Finding Words for Political Disaster

November 9, 2016 • by Claire Potter

Waking up in a state of mourning after Donald Trump's horrifying victory in yesterday's presidential election has caused me to take refuge in one of my favorite childhood movies. The Poseidon Adventure was released in 1972, as political life in the United States was turning from explosion to implosion. This cheesy ...

Feature

Adulterous Patriarchs and Nasty Women

Sex, Marriage and the Recent History of Political Scandals

October 31, 2016 • by Claire Potter

It is T minus 8 to election day, and once again I am asking: why are we talking about former Democratic Congressman and celebrity sexting champ Anthony Weiner? And why did Huma Abedin, Hillary Clinton’s top advisor, not separate from her cheating husband before embarking on a major political campaign? On ...

Feature

#PurpleReigns: A Tribute to Prince

October 21, 2016 • by Julia Ott, Simon Critchley, Deva Woodly, Ricky Tucker, Claire Potter and Alyson Palmer

On September 23rd, Pam Tillis, Director of Public Programs for the New School for Public Engagement organized a tribute to Prince inspired by the Black Lives Matter’s hashtag entitled, #PurpleReigns: A Tribute to Prince. Leading the crowd in celebration were musician Alyson Palmer from the band BETTY, guitarist Mishti Roy, dancer Darlene Arrington, Ricky Tucker, ...

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Raspberry Beret

October 21, 2016 • by Claire Potter

This submissions was part of the #PurpleReigns: A Tribute to Prince event hosted at the New School, Friday, September 23rd. Lesbians loved Prince. And butch lesbians, like me, particularly loved Prince, seeing ourselves in his gender-bendy performances. “Raspberry Beret,” originally recorded in 1982, was released by Prince and the Revolution in 1985 ...

Feature

The Woman Who Might Have Been President

October 3, 2016 • by Claire Potter

As former Goldwater Girl Hillary Rodham Clinton is poised to become the first woman president of the United States, it is worth asking: what prevented Elizabeth Dole -- Clinton's former Senate colleague -- from breaking that historic barrier?

Sexism, not just within the Republican Party but also in a larger political ...