A Cultural History of Anemia
I began to wonder, could that ancient diagnosis of hysteria really just be anemia mixed with a distrust of women’s sexuality?
Category: History
The Best of Ordinary Times 2019
This was a strong year for Ordinary Times, with contributions from many different authors. It included strong debuts from new voices and dynamite content from our regular contributors
The 1619 Project: Historians v Historians With Strongly Worded Letter
Over at The Atlantic, Adam Serwer wades into the debate, and pushback, regarding The New York Times Magazine’s “1619 Project” issue. What say you?
Have Yourself a Merry Little Syphilis
What is the true meaning of Christmas anyway? I’m going to set that question aside for a little bit to talk about syphilis.
Beyond December 7th: A Pearl Harbor Remembrance
On December 7th we remember Pearl Harbor. It is the date on three men’s headstones who where casualties of that attack. But that isn’t the day they died.
Pollution: Remediation and Rebirth, But At What Cost?
What will rise up from the ashes of what was once the largest employee owned business in the country? Clean air is a start…
Thanksgiving Spin: Arlo Guthrie
Have you ever flipped on the radio during Thanksgiving, only to find that your local station is playing an 18-minute song about a restaurant, twenty-seven 8 x 10 colored glossy photographs, and a “Massacree?”
My Family’s Slaves: A Thanksgiving Story
Thanksgiving is a time for being thankful and every one of us alive here in America 2019 should be incredibly thankful.
Turkeys and Drumsticks 2019
I take advantage of the Thanksgiving Holiday to give out my awards for Turkeys of the Year and Golden Drumsticks
Whereas It is Fitting: Veterans Day in America
As long as this great experiment in a free people self governing is to continue, it is good and proper to reflect on those Americans who carried the load when it mattered the most
The World Series! (2010s, second half)
The 2010s are the first decade since the 1910s where the Yankees didn’t win a pennant.
The Great Cases: United States v. Nixon
U.S. v. Nixon was, beyond doubt, the most consequential decision Burger ever wrote and probably the most politically consequential decision between Brown v. Board of Education and Bush v. Gore.
Joe Biden’s ’68 Throwback Special
Joe Biden talked about these formative events to a generation. The problem is that was not only a generation ago, but nearly two generations ago.
To Lift This Great Social Incubus of Bad Cooking
Fannie Farmer’s influence and cookbook are both still around today, in an age where culinary is a hot entertainment commodity and the entirety of human knowledge on the subject is available with a quick search on your phone or computer.
A Timeless Box Full of Whistles
The story of Handel, a young Mozart, a Dutch church, Johnny Cash, and holding my kids hand, all set to the subtle sounds of a pipe organ.
Ever Heard “Hey Joe?”
I used to think that I missed out, that I was born in the wrong era when it comes to music.
The Things My Father Gave Me
History has been something that my father has given me with very little in return; not simply because I don’t want to give back to that tradition, but because I haven’t yet had the life to lead which gives to the story of my family and of mankind as a whole.
Sunday Morning! Beginning Balzac & Eugénie Grandet
I suppose by middle age it’s high time I started with Balzac…
Renown Architect Cesar Pelli, Dead at 92
We have not had an architecture post in some time. This occasion certainly calls for it: César Pelli, dead at 92
Ronald Reagan’s Missing Overcoat
How Reagan’s missing overcoat helped end the Cold War. When Donald Trump met Kim Jong Un at the DMZ, he failed to put something on him as well.
