If 2019 is nothing else, I would say it became the Year of the Book. I’ve always considered myself an avid reader, but this year was above and beyond what I’ve read in the past (or at least, since homework made reading for fun more difficult to find time for). 2018 was almost The Year of the Book. (It certainly started that way between The Philosopher’s Flight and The English Wife – both books I could not put down.) However, 2019 will get credit for the sheer number of good books I read that I […]
Rocky Markets in History
When you see an NPR headline like this one (“Dow Suffers Record-Breaking Christmas Eve Losses”) and the you see a follow up headline a couple days later like this one (“After Big Losses, Markets Stage a Post-Christmas Rally”), it’s very easy to be reminded of an earlier time. That first article actually went so far as to compare the lost ground to periods of severe market unrest, such as 2008 and 1931. And to be fair – they’re not wrong. These have been some pretty terrifying moments for people with money invested in the stock […]
The Spirit of Historical Inquiry
I was listening to TED Radio Hour last month for a re-airing of an episode entitled, “The Spirit of Inquiry”. What fascinated me was how science-based the episode was. And yes, to a certain extent I could understand why it was so science-based. But here is where I would like to take that thought and bring it even further: Most of us were taught in school that the reason we should believe in science is because of the scientific method. Scientists follow a method and this method guarantees the truth of their claims. […] The […]
Watching the Bubble Burst
What are the warning indicators that come before an economic bubble pops? What can we learn from the economics of earlier times? I can’t say I ever went into studying history with the intent at looking at money. For some reason, I spent a good deal of time thinking that understanding money was not a capacity I had. Things have changed a bit, and strangely it is my addiction to tea that did the trick. Looking at the history of one of the most traded commodities of the 18th century inevitably lead to studying the […]
Dear Madam President: A Response
I can’t exactly call this a book review. The only review-like thing I can really honestly say is that Jennifer Palmieri’s book, Dear Madam President: An Open Letter to the Women Who Will Run the World, is exactly what I needed after the year and a half we have been through since the results of the 2016 election. I was drawn to the book after hearing an article or podcast (potentially NPR?) mention it – specifically her chapter on “Nod Less, Cry More”. I was intrigued. But there was so much more in here than just sage, […]
New Posts at On King Street: Mercy Otis Warren
I have two new blog posts up at On King Street: Mercy Otis Warren: An Introduction “Set Mrs. Warren down in her own Habitation”: Tracing the Footsteps of Mercy Otis Warren
The Overactive Imagination
Some of you may be aware (since I posted about it in March) that I am currently working on a mystery novel that takes place in the 1800s. This will have some rather familiar issues for people who are thinking about the 19th century in general – specifically the Victorian era, as it were. But being a historian, I’m digging around in the past, lining things up and trying to get everything as close to right as I can. The trouble is, when you are writing about a character who has fallen back in time […]
History Chat: Divisions That Would Lead to Civil War
The original disagreements that lead to the American Civil War, just in case anyone forgot, had been apparent since before we declared independence from Britain. Let us not forget that slavery had been the center of the southern colonies economy long before we had even considered abolishing it. And not just that, but it was already a center of British political debate when the war started. What was one of the enticements the southern colonies had to join the resistance at that point? That if they stayed loyal to the British crown, they would likely […]
Understanding Failure
Just a couple days ago I was reading a New Yorker article on Mo Willems. Mo Willems is most famous for his Pigeon books, his Elephant and Piggie series, and for Knuffle Bunny. The Pigeon books started it all with Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. But what he points to in his interview with Rivka Galchen is the fact that he had to fail a lot to get where he was. Even when he was succeeding, he felt like he was failing to a certain extent. I hit that point today where I was thinking much […]
The Science of Deduction
Yes, I’m writing a mystery novel. No, it’s not progressing well. I’ve hit upon the stumbling block that I haven’t done forensic research in a while, so I’m frustrated and reading as many books as I can get my hands on. Apparently my mind has come up with a victim, and a motive. But I don’t know the killer yet, nor do I know the detective. Also, the story changed enough that I can no longer use the title I had in mind. I’m thinking I should just let this one write itself before I […]