Spring updates
Full steam ahead
I want to thank all the new subscribers here. It has been such a busy time and I haven’t had the chance to say thanks, but I am full of gratitude for everyone who has signed on. Thank you! Hopefully I can soon get to a point where I can post more regular updates.
In the meantime, here’s what I’ve been up to, and I also wanted to announce a few upcoming talks (scroll down to the bottom for that).
General Updates
I finished up a lecture series on Furious Minds for Lawfare back in January. All but the final lecture are now available on YouTube. Here is the landing page for the series - and here is its resource page.
I had an article in The Atlantic ideas back in February, about the Trump administration’s fascist social media posting. I was glad to have the chance to write for them.
I’ve been doing some traveling and events, including trips to Kenyon College, The University of Scranton, St. Anselm College in New Hampshire, the Principles First Summit, The Miller Center at UVA, and The University of Alabama.
A highlight: when I drove up to Scranton from DC the rental company gave me a red Ford Mustang:
While I was up in Scranton, I read Michael Anton’s review of Furious Minds, which was published recently in the Claremont Review of Books. It’s something to behold. I read it in a bar after a book talk I gave there, in the company of some new friends from the University of Scranton (and some other academics from the surrounding area; the bar was called “The Bog”; that was kind of perfect). Some kind of response to Anton is warranted, I guess. Stay tuned.
I’ve also been reading the great new Tanenhaus Buckley biography and wrote a review of it for an H-Diplo roundtable that should be coming out in a few months. Enjoyed the book a lot.
Furious Minds came out in England on January 6th, and so is more readily available in Europe than before, and the reception there has been great. Michael Burleigh wrote a great review for Literary Review. There was also this one in Denmark (I have no idea what it says but if you speak Danish let me know!). There were also a few new reviews here in the US, including by David Austin Walsh in Washington Monthly and George Case for Quillette. And Jennifer Szalai’s review from December was featured on the front page of the print book section back in January. Talk about thrilling.
Interviews/Podcasts
Since the UK launch, there have also been a bunch of interviews, from all around the world:
In These Times with Kathryn Joyce (USA)
Informacion (Denmark)
Der Spiegel (Germany)
Philosophie Magazin with Millay Hyatt (Germany)
Chosun (South Korea)
Haaretz with Etan Nechin (Israel)
L’Express with Laurent Berbon and Thomas Mahler (France)
Oxford Political Review with Michael Wakin (UK)
Then there are the podcasts:
The Weekly Dish with Andrew Sullivan
Give them An Argument with Ben Burgis and Matthew McManus
The Wisdom of Crowds with Sam Kimbriel and Christine Emba
Behind the News with Doug Henwood
Big World podcast for AU’s School of International Service
Court of History with Sidney Blumenthal and Sean Wilentz
Lilly Goren for the New Books Network
In Conversation with Frank Schaeffer
The Realignment with Marshall Kosloff
The Political Theory Review with Jeffrey Church
Matthew Grossman The Science of Politics Podcast
Brink Lindsay The Permanent Problem
Like I said, it has been pretty busy!
Up for April/May: California, Chicago, Europe
I am currently in San Diego (for the record, I am a zealous California convert: Is there anything more beautiful in the world than this place!?). I am here for the WPSA conference, where there was a roundtable on my book on Friday that included Libby Anker, Nicholas Buccola, Alison McQueen, and AJ Bauer. It was the first time I have talked about the book among political theorists and it was SO fun.
This morning I walked up to Balboa Park. Seriously, how beautiful is California? Check out those roses! They almost look like peonies!
Tomorrow I’m driving up to Pomona college for a talk. Fingers crossed that they give me a fun car!
Here is the full list of upcoming events, in CA, Chicago, and Europe:
USA
Tuesday, April 7 @4:30pm. Furious Minds book talk at Pomona College (Claremont, CA).
Wednesday, April 8 @12pm. Book talk at UC Davis
Thursday, April 16, Book talk at Seminary Co-op at the University of Chicago
Friday, April 17, @2:30 Covering the New Right conference, Franke Institute for the Humanities in Chicago
Saturday, April 18 @ Book talk at Nighthawk and New Lines Magazine in Chicago
Saturday, May 9 For Good Conference in Charlottesville (organized by Alan Elrod, Pulaski Institute)
Wednesday, May 27 @5pm, Book talk at Dartmouth College (New Hampshire)
EUROPE
Tuesday, April 21, @4:00pm. Atlantische Commissie at The Hague, Illiberal Currents and the New Right (with Marlene Laruelle)
Monday, April 27, @5:30pm, Book talk at the University of Cambridge
Tuesday, April 28, Book talk at Durham University
Wednesday, April 29, Book talk at Ecole Normale Superieur (ENS, Paris)
Tuesday, May 5, Book talk at the University of Vienna
Spring in DC
Final note: Spring has arrived in Washington, DC, and it is my favorite time of year in the city. I’m almost sorry to be away. But last weekend, for the first time in years, we got to see the cherry blossoms at the tidal basin in full bloom. There was a kite festival on the mall at the same time, as well as a big No Kings march. It was great to be down there.
Having just read Michael Anton’s review of your book, I think you may have hit a nerve. Two things struck me about his review. At one point he characterizes Straussianism as “careful reading and seeking to understand an author as he understands himself” — but surely this is what Strauss says should be done with the greats like Machiavelli and Hobbes, not just any author. Is Anton leaving a misleading trail or does he count himself as one of the greats? At another point he complains that you ascribe to him a quote by Thomas Wolfe he doesn’t agree with — but doesn’t that basically come straight out of Persecution and the Art of Writing? Quote others saying things you believe to give yourself cover? Is Anton trying to show his Straussian pedigree and writing his review esoterically just because you now have a reputation as a good Straussian reader and he wants to show you up? In any case, it is a strange and woolly review. Congrats on the success of your book. I enjoyed it.
The danish review is very positive, informative and well written. It is built around your four categories of conservatives, and refers the main thoughts of the most important thinkers in a good way. The review is printed in one of Denmark`s two intellectual weekly newspapers.
I have read your book and enjoyed it, if you can use this word about such a theme. I am norwegian, but we can read Danish without problems. So you are read in Scandinavia too!