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Author Archives: Timothy Burke
Nothing Up My Sleeves
The “interactive budget” feature at the New York Times was kind of interesting. I played around with several scenarios. The thing that surprised me is how easy it is to close the gap simply by returning most taxation to mid-Clinton … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
6 Comments
Providing the Bricks, Not the Building
This academic year is turning out to be deeply drenched in committee work for me, but I’m not going to grouse about that as per the professorial norm. The stuff I’m involved in this year feels substantial, interesting, and consequential. … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Swarthmore
7 Comments
What Ifs and Might-Have-Beens: Draft Syllabus
I’m teaching a new course next semester on counterfactual and alternate history. The basic structure of the course is divided into four-parts: historiographical and theoretical debates about counterfactuals and alternate history; formal ‘scholarly’ counterfactuals; alternate histories; and workshopping student-created counterfactuals … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Production of History, Swarthmore
14 Comments
Restoring Sanity One Civic Ritual At a Time
Couldn’t make it to Washington today, much as I’d like to. As Jon Stewart said when they announced the rally, probably most of us who’d liked to have been there wouldn’t come because we have lives. For us, that was … Continue reading
Posted in Domestic Life, Politics, Popular Culture
5 Comments
The Forever Blog
Goodness, is it that long since I’ve posted? Time flies when you’re buried under committee meetings. Given that it’s been a while, I should talk about blogging itself. I’m occasionally asked by colleagues how I manage to find the time … Continue reading
Goodnight to Goodnight Moon?
The NY Times says that the picture book for children is disappearing, largely because so many aspirant middle-class parents are pushing their children aggressively towards reading chapter books early in life, and receiving some endorsement in this move from teachers … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Popular Culture
11 Comments
Why the Owl of Minerva Doesn’t Get Party Invitations After Dusk
I don’t do this very often, but I’m going to get a bit aggressive about disciplinary expertise for a second. William Easterly has an interesting post about the “mystery of the benevolent autocrat”, observing that while the highest growth rates … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Africa, Production of History
5 Comments
Crime and Punishment
What should happen to the Rutgers students who livestreamed a roommate having sex, spurring him to suicide? This isn’t the first time the question of criminal consequences for an action like this one has come up, and doubtless it won’t … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
9 Comments
Who’s Martin Luther?
Let’s say there’s this person. He or she and family regularly go to church on Sunday, and their church is Lutheran. For them, church is a supportive community first, a theological and philosophical experience second (or third or fourth). He … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Production of History
5 Comments
Viruses? Assassination? Arming Insurgents? How Could That Go Wrong?
You don’t have to be paranoid or a conspiracy freak to think that re-engineering the technology at the heart of digital communications so that it can be legally wiretapped is a bad idea. Drearily, this is another example of how … Continue reading