Claire Berlinski (who lives in the Parisian district of Le Marais), spent some time with them.
Category Archives: History
Seventy-Seven Years
I just noticed the date; it is one that, in Roosevelt’s words, “will live in infamy.” Seventy-seven years ago we abruptly entered the second world war when the Japanese attacked our fleet at Pearl Harbor. The passing of George H. W. Bush a week ago is a reminder that that event, along with the war itself, is passing from living memory.
Brokaw called them “The Greatest Generation.” I don’t know about that, but mine has not covered itself in glory. However I remain simultaneously hopeful for and fearful of the future. We do, for now, live in the best of times in human history.
But if you’re pessimistic, I guess you can take the Trump approach. After all, as Marx* once said, “What has posterity ever done for me?”
* Not that Marx. This one.
“Neanderthals And Humans”
Apparently they got it on more than we thought, but Neanderthals were humans (or they wouldn’t have been able to interbreed). In fact, last time I checked, they were also Homo sapiens, but a different subspecies, “neanderthalensis,” rather than Homo sapiens sapiens (modern humans).
Sodom And Gomorrah?
This looks like a very interesting paper, suggesting that a Tunguska-like event wiped out the ancient Middle East, and could explain a lot of myths. (Ctrl-F for “Tunguska” to see the specific abstract.)
And of course, it has current implications that we’ve been lucky, and dodging bullets.
[Late-afternoon update]
Forbes has a story.
The Man Who Won The Moon Race
A nice profile of George Low, as we approach the half-century anniversary of Apollo 8, when the race was won.
News That Should Not Be News
Monica Lewinski says that Bill Clinton pressured her to lie.
This is only news to people who didn’t actually follow what was going on at the time, or people who have been fed a false history for two decades (he was impeached for a BJ, or “lying about sex”). Which is most people. Subornation of perjury (and not just Lewinski’s, but from Linda Tripp, via Lewinski, with physical threats to her family) was one of the reasons he was impeached.
The Miscreant Who Got Us Into This Mess
Too few people know what a horrible person and president Woodrow Wilson was. Our first fascist dictator.
Why It Took So Long To Replace Shuttle
A frustrating history from Scott Manley.
Puns
A punny defense of them.
The Lincoln anecdote about suspending a hanging reminds me of Franklin’s admonition that if the rebellious colonists didn’t hang together, they would surely hang separately.
Reason At Fifty
Matt Welch describes the history of the magazine. I just finished Bob Poole’s new book