Beto O'Rourke Archives - Public Seminar

Feature

White Men Running (For President)

The DNC’s nostalgic embrace of familiar, and obsolete, white male leadership

May 28, 2019 • by Aaron Landsman

“Nostalgia is a sentiment of loss and displacement, but it is also a romance with one's own fantasy.” Svetlana Boym, “Nostalgia and its Discontents.” In this 2020 Democratic primary reality TV season, Biden, O’Rourke, Buttigieg, and Sanders all seem to be performing different facets of a kind of idealized white male type. ...

“Operation Varsity Blues,” the White Supremacy Terrorist Attack in New Zealand, and Beto O’Rourke

Past Present Episode 172

March 26, 2019 • by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, Nicole Hemmer and Neil J. Young

In this episode, Natalia, Niki, and Neil discuss the college admissions scandal, the white supremacy terrorist attack in New Zealand, and Beto O’Rourke’s bid for the presidency. Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: College admissions has long legally favored the wealthy, but “Operation Varsity Blues” has ...

Evil Ways

Reflections on sometimes supporting politicians who make us sick, and on politicians and musicians who raise us up

August 27, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

"I merely took the energy it takes to pout, and I wrote some blues." -Duke Ellington Last Thursday night, while watching MSNBC, I was taken aback to see a new TV ad from the re-election campaign of Senator Joe Donnelly (D-Indiana). Donnelly, along with West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, has long positioned ...