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: You. Just have a drink. 2021’s off to a start, huh? Talk about: What wine goes with an attempted coup? Yesterday’s breach of the United States Capitol by a shaggy horde of insurrectionists egged on by the President of the United States was a historical anomaly of the worst kind: the…
Raise a glass to: Democracy Vote! Vote! Vote! Look. A lot of people are saying a lot of things about Election Day. The results may take too long. Is absentee balloting trustworthy? And what the hell is up with the Electoral College? It is all very stressful. But these questions are not new, and there…
Have a drink with: Postal Inspectors Don’t mess with the postal service. Ask them about: Snow, rain, gloom of night, Tommy guns When former Trump adviser Steve Bannon was arrested recently on charges of defrauding donors to an online fundraising campaign known as “We Build the Wall,” it was by agents of the United States…
The Flour Rioters of 1837 Bread, meat, rent and fuel Ask them about: sourdough starter? In the pandemic months of 2020, one of the most initially surprising facts of life was the desolation of the supermarket baking aisle, with flour in desperately short supply as we all stress-baked our way through isolation. It isn’t the first…
Have a drink with: Black Historians Ask them about: Maybe just listen. Here’s something I found while I was researching this week. It’s a column from a September 1863 issue of Scientific American: Part of the process of researching a subject is looking at all the adjacent issues that you encounter along the way, building…
Have a drink with: The American Voter A high and important duty to perform. Ask: what’s your plan for voting? We’re not alone among the world’s democracies in this fact, but Americans don’t have a great record on voter turnout, particularly when midterm elections are involved. This is not unique to the modern era, either:…
Have a drink with: John Tyler His Accidency Ask him about: Sick of that song yet? In the anonymous New York Times opinion essay about staff dissent within the White House published earlier this month, the author mentioned (among many other things) deliberation over use of the 25th Amendment in response to perceived presidential instability….
Have a drink with: The Committee of the Proprietors of Common and Undivided Lands at New Haven Say that one five times fast. Ask them about: Food trucks, church buildings and underground parking structures There are situations in which you are pleased to find your hometown has made national news. A horrific instance of mass…
Have a drink with: Presidential Hats Come at me, bro. Ask them about: how buff was Teddy Roosevelt? With the collective American mind very much on upcoming midterm elections, and with a host of new and nontraditional contenders running for office, one phrase pops up perhaps a little more than usual: the announcement that one…
Have a drink with: Daniel Sickles Once I was the King of Spain… Ask him about: What’s the name of his other leg? Daniel Sickles sat weeping in a Washington, D.C. jail in 1859. The young, charismatic New York Congressman was an up-and-coming star in American politics – a favorite of President James Buchanan, in…
