Category: history

• Site Health

  Feb 7

  When I logged in to WordPress earlier I received three messages about the “health” of my web site. Not only did I not understand what the hell it was talking… more ›

• Alive and Kicking

  Sep 21

  Berlin-based Rixdorf Editions continues to establish itself as the premier publisher of Wilhelminia in English translation. Although a streak of social conservatism marks the reign of German Emperor Wilhelm II,… more ›

• A Year in the Arts

  Dec 27

  We have been ardent supporters of the arts since our undergraduate days. Last year around this time, a colleague at TheaterJones wrote about seeing over 100 shows, mostly theater, I… more ›

• Hiram Arnold

  May 28

  For this Memorial Day, instead of visiting the grave of my Uncle Frank, who was killed in Vietnam three days before his twentieth birthday, or of my grandfather, whose body… more ›

• In Search of Babushka

  May 18

  Babushka’s Journey: The Dark Road to Stalin’s Wartime Camps is an eloquent travel memoir that also manages to do the heavy lifting required by great historical writing. Though German-born and… more ›

• The Poet in His Labyrinth

  Nov 23

  “Criticism unfolds the possibility of freedom and is thus an invitation to action.” “Criticism tells us that we should learn to dissolve the idols, should learn to dissolve them within… more ›

• Cuban Fantasia

  Feb 26

  My most recent fantasy: live part-time in Havana and start an English-language walking tour, modeled after Brendan’s Isherwood’s Neighborhood tour in Berlin, retracing the sites and scenes of Reinaldo Arenas’… more ›

• All Apologies

  Mar 13

  Any time an apology is issued, we need to ask why. Just who exactly is she apologizing to? Can you apologize to the dead?Or is this merely an exercise in… more ›

• Sacrament

  Nov 14

  “Światu grożą trzy plagi, trzy zarazy. Pierwsza–to plaga nacjonalizmu. Druga–to plaga rasizmu. Trzecia–to plaga religijnego fundamentalizmu. Te trzy plagi mają samą cechę, wspólny mianownik–jest nim agresywna, wszechwładna, totalna irracjonalność. Do… more ›

• Angela Davis

  Jul 8

  When ostensibly asked if she supported violence while she was in jail, Angela Davis not only explained violence, but she related its origin: the violent state. Any violence perpetrated by… more ›