AltWeeklies Wire
People's Historian Howard Zinn Has Hope for America's Futurenew
At the age of 86, Zinn's commentary remains as imperative as ever in understanding up-and-coming social movements through a historical lens.
Boulder Weekly |
Erica Grossman |
10-06-2008 |
Books
Will the '08 Election See an October Surprise?new
True, it's October Surprise time. But the truth is there have been only two major October Surprises in the past 52 years, in 1956 and 1962.
Boulder Weekly |
Paul Danish |
09-29-2008 |
Commentary
Pulp Mag Reprints Find an Audience ... Againnew
A publisher quaintly called Nostalgia Ventures offers us a peek into the national fantasies of the last time America was broke, whipped, and paranoid all at once.
Los Angeles CityBeat |
Ron Garmon |
09-26-2008 |
Books
'Obscene in the Extreme' Recalls the Fight to Ban 'Grapes of Wrath'new
Seventy years later, with The Grapes of Wrath canonized in American literature and still a must-read for students across the country, it is almost forgotten how strongly -- and even violently -- publication of Steinbeck's novel was opposed in the heartland of California.
Metro Silicon Valley |
Geoffrey Dunn |
09-26-2008 |
Nonfiction
Spike Lee Harangues the Audience in the Heavy-Handed 'Miracle at St. Anna'new
Even though I was steeled for a tetchy lecture on America's sad legacy of racism, this movie's sledgehammer didacticism fairly pounded me out of my seat.
Las Vegas Weekly |
Mike D'Angelo |
09-25-2008 |
Reviews
Gary Bass Makes a Convincing Case for Forceful Humanitarianismnew
Unlike most books interested in promoting human rights by force of arms, Bass focuses on the actions of Western nations and not the philosophies of phony intellectuals from beltway think tanks.
Charleston City Paper |
Dylan Hales |
09-24-2008 |
Nonfiction
Ronald Wright Condemns the Short History of Yankee Progress in 'What Is America?'new
It must be tough being Ronald Wright. As a blisteringly insightful historian with eyes as much on the future as the past, it’s easy to imagine how painful it must be to live here in the early 21st century and watch as the United States leaves a trail of blood across the globe.
Monday Magazine |
John Threlfall |
09-18-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Author of 'Ten-Cent Plague' Explores Outlaw Comicsnew
The '40s and '50s were a time of political persecution for the authors of early alternative comic books -- of congressional hearings, of blacklists and of book burnings only dimly remembered by history. But it's a time worth remembering, if not for its art, then for its lessons, says David Hajdu.
Style Weekly |
Chris Dovi |
09-17-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Ask a Mexican: More Shameless Self-Promotion (Buy Gustavo's New Book!)new
In honor of and to shamelessly promote my muy caliente libro (which deals with America's Gomorrah, the Reconquista and John Wayne!), I'm answering historical questions this week.
Sarah Who?
Today, Sarah Palin is a high-profile, sass-talking, self-described lipstick-wearing pit bull. But 25 years ago, a kid with big '80s hair came down from a small Alaska town to attend two colleges in Idaho (among five she attended in all) and was so nondescript that even teachers and students who know they shared a class with her have no memories of her.
The Inlander |
Kevin Taylor |
09-10-2008 |
Politics
Arkansas Nuns Recall Admitting Black Students in 1952 for DVD Projectnew
Before any other school in the state, as far as they know, the nuns of St. Scholastica monastery invited a couple of girls who'd recently graduated from an all-black Catholic grammar school to enroll in their previously all-white girls high school. Now Fort Smith Historical Society members are interviewing the surviving nuns from that era and preserving the interviews on DVD.
Arkansas Times |
Jennifer Barnett Reed |
09-05-2008 |
Race & Class
'Blue Dixie' Explodes Political Myths About the South, Perpetuates Othersnew
Conventional wisdom holds that the South is a solid GOP bloc, lost to Democrats forever, with a single stroke of LBJ's pen. But like most unchallenged "truths," this one is nothing but a media-generated myth that has had dire consequences for the democratic process.
Charleston City Paper |
Dylan Hales |
09-04-2008 |
Nonfiction
Detroit's African-American Writers, Playwrights and Poets Get a Space of Their Ownnew
The development of the African American Literature Special Collection at Wayne State University's Purdy-Kresge Library began in April 2005, when Assistant Dean and Development Director Barton Lessin was approached by Don Vest, co-owner of Broadside Press.
Metro Times |
Norene Cashen |
09-02-2008 |
Books
How Sonny Rollins Defeated Heroinnew
In his six-decade career, the legendary saxophonist has claimed many a triumph. But his greatest may have come in the 1950s, during a quiet period in Chicago.
Chicago Reader |
Neil Tesser |
09-02-2008 |
Music
The Revolutionaries Inside the 1968 DNC Didn't Get Much Inknew
You've heard plenty lately about the action outside the '68 Democratic National Convention. How much do you know about what was going on inside?
Chicago Reader |
Michael Miner |
09-02-2008 |
Commentary
