Early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, when people were faced with a lockdown for several weeks, there was a run on toilet paper, paper towels, and facial tissue. Entire sections in stores where these were kept were empty. Strict limits were put on the number people could purchase at any given time. For months, there were gaps on the toilet paper shelves. Where there used to be several options for purchase, you were lucky if…
As per usual, existential questions related to the history field have bubbled to the surface on Twitter. I’ve got two of them to discuss in this post. They appeared on Twitter within a week of each other and though they were posted separately by different people, they speak to each other. The first existential question was raised by applied math professor Chad Topaz. I know Chad personally because he was my daughter’s advisor at Macalester…
Throughout the four years of the T**** regime, as report after report came out about corrupt, unethical, possibly illegal, democratic-norm-breaking behavior, joined by an incessant number of lies, conspiracy theories, threats, and nasty comments, there has been a common refrain on Twitter. “History will not judge these individuals well.” As though merely pointing out how future people will look back on this time, shake their finger, and say, “Tsk, tsk,” and individuals currently engaging in…