Interpretations of the Past

Historian Michael D. Hattem discusses historical memory, reckoning with the creation of “American history”, and his recent book

That put this question in my head: how, and when, did these British colonists, now Americans, stop thinking that the British past was their history? And how did they come to replace it with what we now call “American history”? That question then became the project’s overarching framework: reckoning with ...
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Interpretations of the Past

Truth, Damned Truth, and Statistics: A Quiet Mathematical Revolution Reshaping our Algorithmically-Mediated World

An interview with Justin Joque

There’s a shift in statistical approaches from one driven by what we traditionally think of as knowledge—knowing ‘the truth’—to a more economic approach. That shows what's always been the case but admits it in a more clear-eyed way: knowledge production is always tied to political economy. In fact, the ways ...
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Truth, Damned Truth, and Statistics: A Quiet Mathematical Revolution Reshaping our Algorithmically-Mediated World

When I Was One-Dimensional

How Herbert Marcuse’s text changed my life

"For their sincere reception," Cavell concludes, some life-altering texts require "the shock of conversion." Reading Marcuse, I had felt that shock, with pleasure. Few experiences are quite as rapturous as the conviction that one has embarked on a splendid new life with the firmest of good convictions: as Plato long ...
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When I Was One-Dimensional

Donald Trump Must Face Federal Charges

A look back at the Weimar Republic should teach us a lesson about bringing insurrectionists to justice

Before writing off the theatrics of the GOP as a mere sideshow, we should pause to remember how Adolf Hitler snatched victory from a catastrophic attempted putsch in 1923. ...

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Donald Trump Must Face Federal Charges

Identity Politics and Culture Wars

Judith Butler, Cornel West, and Glenn Greenwald join moderator Simon Critchley in the 2021 Holberg Debate

To some, identity-based politics has been embraced as an effective strategy to combat discrimination and marginalization. To others, it may seem that identity politics has resulted in culture wars involving violent conflicts and a destructive exchange of labels. ...

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Identity Politics and Culture Wars

Making Poetry Fun and Daring

An interview with award-winning poet Victoria Chang

Victoria Chang is a Chinese American poet whose writing explores themes of death and grief. In her new book The Trees Witness Everything (Copper Canyon Press, 2022) Chang explores how we experience grief over time, and how nature experiences it along with us. Informed by the pandemic, the theme of ...
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Making Poetry Fun and Daring