Author Archives: Timothy Burke

Not Even Wrong

Posted on September 23, 2008 by Timothy Burke

I missed this story when it first appeared, but apparently Rush Limbaugh has been saying that Barack Obama’s father was actually an Arab from “an Arab part of Africa”. Look, why bother with real places at all, if you’re comfortable … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Production of History | 4 Comments

Planned Contraction or Chaotic Retreat?

Posted on September 18, 2008 by Timothy Burke

Even leaving aside the economic news of the last year, I’ve become convinced that all but perhaps four or five American universities with extraordinary wealth have come to the end of a long period of bountiful growth. I’ve muttered the … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia | 16 Comments

Lipstick on a Financial Collapse

Posted on September 16, 2008 by Timothy Burke

Last week, I meant to bring up a column by Megan McArdle. I don’t often make someone else’s blog writing my point of departure, but this post got under my skin enough that I keep coming back to it mentally. … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 14 Comments

Chickens Not Counted

Posted on September 16, 2008 by Timothy Burke

I don’t see any reason for enthusiasm about the signing of a Zimbabwean power-sharing agreement. Whether it will be at all meaningful not only remains to be seen, but depends very much on changes that are very much below the … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa | 4 Comments

I’m Totally Past Representationalist Work Now

Posted on September 11, 2008 by Timothy Burke

I’ve suggested sometimes that liberal arts professors should have to take a course from one of their colleagues every three or four years. Mostly I like that idea because it is a way to build in a commitment to generalism, … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia | 7 Comments

One of Ours to Hospital, One of Theirs to Morgue?

Posted on September 11, 2008 by Timothy Burke

The usual fratricidal conversations between Democrats, liberals, and so on are now in full swing, as one faction argues that the right answer to Republican mudslinging is to answer every dirty, trivializing, nonsense charge with an equally dirty, trivializing response. … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 18 Comments

From the Gut

Posted on September 10, 2008 by Timothy Burke

If you like, you can read my long intellectualized response to the struggle over intellectuals and culture below. I also have a much more visceral, personal response to the kind of anti-intellectual populism that’s been more visibly present in American … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Domestic Life | 19 Comments

Horn of Africa Redux

Posted on September 10, 2008 by Timothy Burke

Matthew Yglesias has a polite “I told you so” up regarding the current situation in Somalia and Ethiopia. I’ll have one of what he’s having, bartender.

Posted in Africa | Comments Off on Horn of Africa Redux

The Why of Culture War

Posted on September 10, 2008 by Timothy Burke

One of the arguments I understand Rick Perlstein to be making in Nixonland is that American political life has been increasingly shaped by a public culture war since the 1960s because that was the distinctive political response crafted by Nixon … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Blogging, Politics | 6 Comments

Spore Needs More (and Less)

Posted on September 9, 2008 by Timothy Burke

Will Wright’s The Sims is the best-selling digital game of all time, and probably one of the games most disliked by people who play a lot of digital games. Wright’s new game Spore seems to be producing a very similarly … Continue reading →

Posted in Games and Gaming | 2 Comments