Since I am in the midst of preparing for the new semester, my time for blogging is limited. So instead of something substantial, today I suggest four blogs that I frequent. In the comments section, I would love for readers to likewise point out great blogs.
1. Ph.D. Octopus. Run by a group of intellectual historian graduate students, many of whom regularly attend our conference, this blog is a highly entertaining mix of academic, political, and cultural analysis.
2. The Gates of Mercy. Authored by LD, one of our best and most frequent commenters, this blog offers both intellectual content and personal rumination on life as a graduate student.
3. The New Inquiry. Great criticism, focusing on the cultural, from a number of young thinkers seeking to find a new space for the public intellectual in the digital age.
4. Jacobin. (Disclosure: I am a sometimes blogger here.) Like The New Inquiry, Jacobin’s writers are mostly young and unaffiliated. The focus here is more on politics, from leftist, non-sectarian perspectives. Their recent discussions of neoliberalism have been fascinating, and remind me of our long conversation about that topic earlier this year.
So, dear readers, which blogs do you frequent. Do share.
15 Thoughts on this Post
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Whoa, Andrew. Thanks for the *major* shout out. I guess I’d better get busy and write something worth reading…
I’d take some more shots at “Jacobin”, but that would be like playing a video game on the easiest setting and with infinite health and infinite ammo turned on.
Varad: It would also reveal your Anti-Jacobin Tourette Syndrome (AJTS) affliction. Best to keep these things secret.
Somewhere, Andrew, the Baby Jesus is weeping because of your casual, nay, careless, invocation of a neurological disorder. The Baby Jesus, or one of the legions of the professionally umbrageous and outraged. I can’t tell which.
Not related specifically to US history or American Studies, but two of my favorite more academic blogs are Electrostani by Lehigh English professor Amardeep Singh and the Chapati Mystery by Manan Ahmed and Daisy Rockwell. All three are South Asianists by trade (and Rockwell’s a painter on top of that), but they also have more general posts about theory, academia, the news (and on journalism), and stuff related to their own lives and non-academic interests, including areas outside of their particular academic purviews. Manan Ahmed in particular is one of the strongest voiced, which means that he can come off rather polemical/vitriolic — can make for a bracing read, but typically worthwhile even if you don’t always agree with him.
What’s the story with Jacobin’s founder/editor? An undergraduate! Putting me to shame all these young people, doing things.
Zack: Bhaskar (the undergraduate who founded Jacobin) is indeed impressive. But not to worry, like the rest of us, he’s going to ruins (applying to graduate school).
Fine choices. Here’s some more.
Despite our ideological differences, I’m a fan of Mike Konczal — http://rortybomb.wordpress.com/
Ditto for Corey Robin: http://coreyrobin.com/
I actually read Reihan Salam regularly and apparently he returns the favor: http://www.nationalreview.com/agenda/273189/conversational-styles-peter-frase-follow-reihan-salam#
Nick Serpe does a good job soliciting consistently interesting content over at http://dissentmagazine.org/
Doug Henwood doesn’t blog that often, but when he does… http://lbo-news.com/
***
Yes, I’m still an undergraduate. Alcohol still has its novelty, I’m still allowed to wear shorts on dates, and I’m mildly impressed that I grow enough facial hair to warrant shaving daily. Not much else to know.
ps- Glad to see Jacobin’s small legion of trolls has some reinforcements. I’ve yet to hear and an actual criticism amid all the bluster though.
“Yes, I’m still an undergraduate.”
Things become clearer.
Back when I followed more blogs (i.e. dissertation writing phase), I enjoyed following the Tenured Radical. Searching for her url, I see that she now blogs from the Chronicle. http://chronicle.com/blognetwork/tenuredradical/
Here’s a new blog, co-authored by USIH conference alum Kevin Schultz and Ed Blum, titled “Teaching United States History.” Here’s the link: http://teachingunitedstateshistory.blogspot.com/. – TL
Well, it’ll be a while before I can put up some new content — neck deep in the usual pre-semester muck. But I did add some new labels to make my blog more navigable — “digital humanities,” “academic marketplace,” “professoriate” and a few others.
In the meantime, besides USIH, here are a few of the blogs/sites I check almost every day:
The Historical Society
Religion in American History
The Way of Improvement Leads Home
Crooked Timber
The Chronic(le) of Higher Education
Varad:
“”Yes, I’m still an undergraduate.”
Things become clearer.”
Seriously?
Hey, thanks Andrew! The New Inquirers are looking forward to the next USIH conference, where we get to emerge from the cybersphere into the world of flesh and blood scholars.
And a shout out to Bhaskar and the Jacobin! Injecting a little Left energy into the blogosphere is the lord’s work. Or something like that.
One more blog for the list: Dan Allosso’s Blog.
Dan is a historian and one of those digital humanists who inspires confidence instead of a sense that every printed book is destined for the flames, and he’s just come out with a new book. He is also an occasional commentor on my blog, for which I thank him.
The focus here is more on politics, from leftist, non-sectarian perspectives. Their recent discussions of neoliberalism have been fascinating