Category Archives: History

Religion, Mythology, Reality

Posted on Tuesday 28 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Sure, teach the Bible in school, alongside Greek mythology; How Anthony Fauci was an early MAGA success at tearing things down; Heather Cox Richardson on how the Trump administration is trying to rewrite American history; Jim Palmer on religious ideas … Continue reading →

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The Drive to Preserve an Idealistic Past, Which Will Inevitably Fail

Posted on Saturday 18 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

We probably don’t realize how often conservatives are successful at rewriting the past; How the military is resistant to change; Right-wing figures resist commonsense health advice about wildfire smoke; People of faith discover that AI tells them what they want … Continue reading →

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Kurt Andersen: FANTASYLAND

Posted on Tuesday 14 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History (Random House, 2017, 462pp, including 22pp acknowledgements and index) Here is a book by a writer who doesn’t generally write this type of book. Andersen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Andersen) writes mostly novels and TV, and … Continue reading →

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Religious Presumption and Denial of Reality

Posted on Thursday 9 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Dale Partridge wants the white race to again subdue and enslave the Africans; Red Joseph thinks gays are impossible; Recalling Howard Zinn, who told the history conservatives would deny; Will conservative historians 50 years from now erase MAGA, as an … Continue reading →

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Is Consensus History Possible?

Posted on Monday 8 June 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

The Atlantic’s Yoni Applebaum on the idea of consensus history; A review of Steven Spielberg’s film history; How conservatives don’t understand how California voting works, and imagine conspiracies; Ennio Morricone, Marco Polo, and Canzone di Mai-Li. Activity today. – – … Continue reading →

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Everything Bad Is Due to Progressivism! (says Clarence Thomas)

Posted on Sunday 19 April 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Reactions to Clarence Thomas’s speech blaming everything he doesn’t like on progressivism — and Hitler and Stalin too! A standard conservative screed. The Project Hail Mary soundtrack. – – – What kind of contorted logic is going on here? Slate, … Continue reading →

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Yuval Noah Harari: NEXUS

Posted on Friday 3 April 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI (Random House, Sept. 2024, xxxii + 492pp, including 88pp of acknowledgements, notes, and index; but no bibliography) This is Harari’s fourth big book, following SAPIENS, HOMO DEUS, … Continue reading →

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Again, Living in History

Posted on Tuesday 24 March 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

How America has become a dangerous nation; How Christian Nationalists really do want to destroy their political enemies; What that poll about MAGA supporting Trump 100% really means; Brief items about the Supreme Court, a quote from Kurt Andersen about … Continue reading →

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Carl Sagan & Ann Druyan: SHADOWS OF FORGOTTEN ANCESTORS

Posted on Monday 16 March 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: A Search for Who We Are (Random House, Oct 1992, xvi + 505pp, including 85pp of notes, permissions acknowledgements, and index.) This is perhaps Carl Sagan’s most substantial book, on the grounds that it’s through-written as a single composition; … Continue reading →

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What Western Civilization is Actually About

Posted on Saturday 14 March 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Francis Fukuyama, responding to Marco Rubio, on how Western Civilization is more about the Enlightenment than religious faith; And Boston Globe via Steven Pinker on that Tennessee congressman’s anti-Muslim screed; Briefly noted items about Trump’s shoe tests and their Soviet … Continue reading →

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