Maryam El-Shall on the perils of rhetoric.

America is either a cynic on the outside with the heart of an idealist on the inside, or the other way around. With the soaring rhetoric of the Declaration and the Constitution, politics literally is America. Yet who loves city hall? Tammany Hall is where we’ll look at politics with eye both idealistic and angry.
Maryam El-Shall on the perils of rhetoric.
Poet Winston Derden on the contradictions of America.
The revolution is happening in US Higher Ed. In someone’s living room. In many living rooms and studies and bedrooms… Read more Notes on an Academic Revolution – Eileen A. Joy
This piece originally appeared on AmericanStudies. It is republished here with the author’s permission. [In honor of Patriot’s Day—a holiday… Read more On the Only Time and Way We Can Be Patriotic – Ben Railton
Ed Simon and Wade Linebaugh talk about what makes ‘Merica tick.
Jonathan Sawday reflects on the ways in which citizenship in America differs from being a subject in the United Kingdom.
This is where the debate about the significance of Trump is mistaken. Trump is neither a false prophet nor the hope of the future. Rather, Trump is but the reflection of the present determining its place in history.
Editor’s Note: A longer version of this piece is concurrently appearing in Dissent. 1. Presidential campaigns are flawed vehicles for… Read more Seven Notes on the Sanders Campaign – Jedediah Purdy
For my UK friends who don’t quite understand events in Oregon…. HRH the Prince of Wales is staying abreast of… Read more “Please, live free or die, if you wish…” – Jonathan Sawday
December is the weird-ass month, raising Daffodils from dozing land, mixing Hallmark cards and bafflement, mudding Up our seasons with… Read more Poems of the Climate, I (after Eliot’s Waste Land, of course) – Jedediah Purdy