Skip to content
Public Seminar
Public Seminar
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Sections
    • The Arts
    • Economy
    • Education
    • Habitats
    • History
    • Migration
    • Philosophy
    • Politics
    • Race
    • Sex & Gender
    • Science & Technology
  • Podcasts
    • Unsettled
    • The Ostriches
    • Multi-Verse
    • Past Present
    • Exiles on 12th Street
    • Why Now?
    • Unproductive Labor
  • About
    • About
    • Submissions
    • Our Team
    • Donate
    • Issues Archive
  • Symposia
    • Rethinking Orozco
    • The Anti-Immigrant Election
    • The Mysteries of Taylor Swift
    • Rats: A Cautionary Tail
    • Teaching While Black
    • Authority and Freedom: A Defense of the Arts
    • Constitutional Politics
    • Symposium on Love
    • The Left and the Crisis of Democracy

Marguerite Oswald

History

Can You Smile and Say “Land of the Free”?

An excerpt from American Confidential

November 6, 2023 • by Deanne Stillman
Can you smile and say ‘Land of the free’? Of course you can. There . . . that looks perfect. Did you know that this is where the West begins?” And then she would drive off and her mood instantly soured and she would wonder why her son Lee hardly ever ...
Read More
Can You Smile and Say “Land of the Free”?
Subscribe

Join our global intellectual commons

Free to subscribe. No spam. Delivered by Substack.

Most Popular
1
Philosophy in the Time of Techno-Fascism
April 8, 2026 by Alice Crary
Philosophy in the Time of Techno-Fascism
2
Driven Mad by a Marxist Daughter
March 25, 2024 by Justin Joque
Driven Mad by a Marxist Daughter
3
JFK’s Queer White House
December 13, 2018 by Claire Potter
JFK’s Queer White House
4
When the Penis Is Property
June 11, 2020 by Kevin Mumford
When the Penis Is Property
5
Gender as Colonial Object
July 26, 2018 by Lucas Ballestín
Gender as Colonial Object
The Latest
Sex & Gender
Everyone Loves the Straight-Passing Gay Man
May 5, 2026 by Tanmay Pandya
Everyone Loves the Straight-Passing Gay Man
Art & Design
The Avant-Garde Intersection of Léon-Paul Fargue and Marie Monnier
May 4, 2026 by Chris Holdaway
The Avant-Garde Intersection of Léon-Paul Fargue and Marie Monnier
Film & Performing Arts
What Does Disabled Dance Look Like?
April 30, 2026 by Liana Zhen-ai
What Does Disabled Dance Look Like?
Philosophy
What Is a Beagle?
April 30, 2026 by Aaron Neber
What Is a Beagle?
Science & Technology
We Need Industrial Agriculture
April 29, 2026 by Rafael Gonzalez
We Need Industrial Agriculture

The New School

Public Seminar is a journal of ideas and debate published by the Public Seminar Publishing Initiative at The New School. Our free, nonprofit publication is made possible by the support of The New School and the generosity of our readers.

Newsletter

Free to subscribe. No spam.
Delivered by Substack.

Connect With Us

Instagram
Bluesky
Facebook
Twitter

Copyright © 2014–2026 The Editorial Board of Public Seminar, All Rights Reserved.