Archival Mix & the 13th Talk
ARCHIVAL MIX
Researcher Bernetiae Reed found the only known example of Robert Hemmings’s signature, the first person Thomas Jefferson freed.
“With haters like this, who needs fans!” —Mike Duncan on a missive I received after my Larson review.
Emily Warren Roebling, who led the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge to completion, will receive a posthumous honorary degree.
I looked up secondary and beyond definitions of “draft” and saw this!
Helen Vendler, The Art of Criticism No. 3, in the Paris Review.
National Security. Youth. Historical Reckoning. I had no problem finding venues for 12 of the 13 subjects I hoped to discuss on my “How Should a President Be” tour—with one exception:
Every institution I asked to host a discussion of firearms and gun violence from a presidential perspective politely declined or asked for a different topic.
They all cited different reasons. Another subject better suited its mission. We’re in an election year. There were plans for something like it in the foreseeable future.
New America, the bipartisan think tank where I’m a fellow, didn’t hesitate—and Andrew Willinger, Executive Director of the Duke Center for Firearms Law, is flying in to share the stage. The event is in-person and will also be live-streamed by New America. It’s a heavy topic, to be sure, but I’ve found plenty of moments for levity.
My fellowship ends in July, but bless your heart to Ted Johnson, my advisor at New America, if he thinks he’s getting rid of me that easily. Over the last year, Ted and just about everyone else at New America has offered unwavering support for my rather lofty idea for a nationwide discussion tour.
This is the first seemingly ephemeral project I’ve worked on, an intentional approach to 2024. I’m sure it’ll eventually take another form, but for now, it’s informing every part of my current work—and has changed the way I see the world.