[70 years ago this week, the Senate voted to censure Senator Joseph McCarthy, a key final step in the downfall of that domineering and divisive demagogue. So in this series I’ll AmericanStudy a few layers to McCarthy’s America, leading up to a weekend post on his and the moment’s modern echoes.] On a series of quotes that reflect the histories and figures at the end of the December 1954 censure vote. 1)      “Contrary to senatorial traditions”: By the spring of 1954 McCarthy had been bullying and blustering his way through countless Senate hearings, but his April heari ..read more

[70 years ago this week, the Senate voted to censure Senator Joseph McCarthy, a key final step in the downfall of that domineering and divisive demagogue. So in this series I’ll AmericanStudy a few layers to McCarthy’s America, leading up to a weekend post on his and the moment’s modern echoes.] On the figure who embodies American hypocrisies—and perhaps something more. Back before he went around a whole series of increasingly extreme bends, the journalist Glenn Greenwald wrote a scathing critique of the modern GOP entitled Great American Hypocrites (2008). While I certainly agree with Greenwa ..read more

[70 years ago this week, the Senate voted to censure Senator Joseph McCarthy, a key final step in the downfall of that domineering and divisive demagogue. So in this series I’ll AmericanStudy a few layers to McCarthy’s America, leading up to a weekend post on his and the moment’s modern echoes.] On the special report that helped begin McCarthy’s fall, and the response that only hastened it further. In this piece for the Saturday Evening Post, on the 50th anniversary of Walter Cronkite’s famous February 27th, 1967 special report on the Vietnam War, I argued that Cronkite, along with his contemp ..read more

[70 years ago this week, the Senate voted to censure Senator Joseph McCarthy, a key final step in the downfall of that domineering and divisive demagogue. So in this series I’ll AmericanStudy a few layers to McCarthy’s America, leading up to a weekend post on his and the moment’s modern echoes.] On espionage, railroading, and the true complexity of historical nuance. In one of my earliest posts for this blog, I used the wonderful Season 2 West Wing episode “Somebody’s Going to Emergency, Somebody’s Going to Jail” to think about recently revealed details of the Rosenberg case and the question o ..read more

[70 years ago this week, the Senate voted to censure Senator Joseph McCarthy, a key final step in the downfall of that domineering and divisive demagogue. So in this series I’ll AmericanStudy a few layers to McCarthy’s America, leading up to a weekend post on his and the moment’s modern echoes.] An excerpt from Of Thee I Sing that highlights how HUAC and (especially) Joe McCarthy embodied the worst of mythic patriotism. “Both the Depression and World War II eras’ fears of anti-American radi­cals, movements, and communities likewise extended into the post-war mo­ment in an even more prominent a ..read more

[A Recap of the month that was in AmericanStudying.] November 4: The 1924 Election: Harding’s Shadow: A series on the 100th anniversary of another wild election starts with lingering scandals from a deceased president. November 5: The 1924 Election: Three VP Nominees: The series continues with three GOP VP candidates who embody electoral chaos. November 6: The 1924 Election: KKKonventions: The Klan’s influence on both 1924 Conventions and a contemporary echo, as the series campaigns on. November 7: The 1924 Election: La Follette’s 3rd Party: In honor of one of the most successful 3rd party can ..read more

[The most significant part of my work this fall was the launch of my first public scholarly podcast, The Celestials’ Last Game: Baseball, Bigotry, and the Battle for America. A lot of factors helped make that work possible, so for my annual Thanksgiving series I wanted to express my gratitude to a handful of them!] As I hope all of my work over the last few years has made clear, including this blog and my #ScholarSunday threads and much else besides, public scholarly community and conversation are consistently central to everything I do. Often that means sharing other folks’ work, but sometime ..read more

[The most significant part of my work this fall was the launch of my first public scholarly podcast, The Celestials’ Last Game: Baseball, Bigotry, and the Battle for America. A lot of factors helped make that work possible, so for my annual Thanksgiving series I wanted to express my gratitude to a handful of them!] As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I’ve had the chance to appear on quite a few podcasts over the last few years, including the ones highlighted in this list among others. That meant I had a ton of great models for how to make the most of the medium, which was one vital way that my ..read more

[The most significant part of my work this fall was the launch of my first public scholarly podcast, The Celestials’ Last Game: Baseball, Bigotry, and the Battle for America. A lot of factors helped make that work possible, so for my annual Thanksgiving series I wanted to express my gratitude to a handful of them!] Happy Thanksgiving (and National Day of Mourning too)! For me the holiday is all about family, and so I had to dedicate today’s post to my podcast’s three most dedicated audience members: my parents and my wife. They didn’t just listen, either—their thoughtful responses and contribu ..read more

[The most significant part of my work this fall was the launch of my first public scholarly podcast, The Celestials’ Last Game: Baseball, Bigotry, and the Battle for America. A lot of factors helped make that work possible, so for my annual Thanksgiving series I wanted to express my gratitude to a handful of them!] As I discussed throughout the podcast, and really got into fully in my Postgame Press Conference (an extra, 10th episode), one of the most challenging aspects of telling this story was the significant lack of information about its key events and histories. That meant I had to do the ..read more