history pragmatic historian

Weaponizing History

Here at The Pragmatic Historian, my main purpose is to show people how to use history in everyday life. Actually, most of us already use history on a daily basis, so my true purpose is to point out what is so obvious that no one sees it anymore. Much of the time, history is used in positive ways. It is used to build understanding and empathy between people,  provide inspiration, teach us critical thinking, help…

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history museums pragmatic historian

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs – Reexamining Stereotypes Through Historical Details

Over the weekend I watched “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” on Netflix. This is the new Coen Brothers movie that they call an anthology because it contains six unrelated stories. Well, except they are related in that they are all westerns and feature death and lonely people. As I don’t know where I’m going to end up with this post, I’m giving you a SPOILER ALERT right now. If this is a movie you want…

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