as an exploratory journey through that old party question: if you could have a drink with anyone in history, who would it be? History is full of people you’d love to have a drink with. Let’s meet a few.
as an exploratory journey through that old party question: if you could have a drink with anyone in history, who would it be? History is full of people you’d love to have a drink with. Let’s meet a few.
Have a drink with: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Elementary, my dear Watson. Ask him about: ghosts In the early 1920s, folks in America were generally worn out, in a not unfamiliar way. The geopolitical situation was fraught in the wake of World War I, racial tension was high after the 1919 “Red Summer” race riots,…
Have a drink with: Anne of Brittany Iron will, heart of gold, death before dishonor Ask her about: Being an early modern #girlboss For Women’s History Month in March, we’re diving into conversation with Rozsa Gaston, the author of a four-book series of historical fiction on Anne of Brittany, the only woman to be twice…
Have a drink with: Mark Twain & Henry David Thoreau Bring water, though. Ask them about: grilling tips One of the current West Coast wildfires made news recently when investigation revealed it had been started by smoke bombs at a California gender reveal party. The accident (not the first of its kind, following a similar…
Have a drink with: Napoleon Sarony Work with me, darling. Ask him about: Oscar Wilde, cover girl The author of an interview with the photographer Napoleon Sarony, published in the June 1895 edition of Decorator and Furnisher magazine, was clearly excited about getting to meet such a famous figure. In the style of the modern…
Have a drink with: Robert Louis Stevenson Under the wide and starry sky… Ask him about: Self-care Sundays I need a vacation. This makes me think of Robert Louis Stevenson. If you believe, as I do, that history is an act of community through which we use the experiences of others to learn about ourselves,…
Have a drink with: Walt Whitman Contains multitudes; also coffee cake Ask him about: Baking with pork fat Walt Whitman is today remembered for a lot of things. He is the expansive, energetic chronicler of vibrant American life and spirit. He liked nude sunbathing. He grew one of history’s great beards. There was nothing he…
Have a drink with: Gilbert Stuart “The one dollar bill.” Ask him about: Chinese knockoffs In August of this year, news outlets reported that the White House opened the door for the United States Trade Representative (an executive agency that advises on global trade policy) to conduct an investigation of potential Chinese intellectual property abuses….
Have a drink with: Mary Todd Lincoln Bad taste in psychics; good taste in jewelry Ask her about: Levitating pianos George Saunders’ novel Lincoln in the Bardo looks at the metaphysics of the Lincoln family, with what on first glance might seem to be wild creative license. Dramatizing the doubt and grief that colored the…
Have a drink with: Agnes Rogers The future is female. Ask her about: Equality, dignity, good manners, mild snark. The other day I was reading a lifestyle blog talking about the challenge of living a halfway sane female existence in the face of social pressures that demand women be simultaneously effortless, clean, intelligent, ambitious, authentic, confident and…
Have a drink with: Delia Bacon “…very wise in the doctrine of consequences.” Ask her about: fair and balanced journalism Once upon a time, two crazies went head-to-head in a public challenge. It was a deeply partisan fight marked by high emotions and questionable discretion, and in the end the loudmouthed, cowardly male nut job…
