Super Bowl 50 Commercials, American Revolution style
Here we are again, with that wonderful sports/consumer/corporate/bread-and-circuses phantasmagoria that is the Super Bowl, and, with that, and in fact, central to the real purpose of it, namely, money, all those wonderful commercials. And wherever there is a great (or garish, or both, take your pick) American tradition, the American Revolution won’t be far behind. So, […]
Hamilton and me, in the (New York Daily) news
Yes, today’s the birthday of little Al Hamilton, the “$10 founding father without a father” (I think that’s gonna stick). Anyway, here’s what I had to say about it, at the necessary length of 650 words. Enjoy. Thanks to Josh Greenman, for asking me and for his excellent editorial work.
What the musical of the $10 founding father without a father says about fatherhood
Hamilton, that musical about the “ten dollar founding father without a father” actually has a lot to say about the changing nature of fatherhood in the Anglo-American world of the late 1700s. The funny thing is, it does so least in places you might expect, and most cogently in what would seem like just a few […]
Unknown knowns: Why we think we love Hamilton and Adams
Like many historian-types, I love Hamilton, the musical, and am ambivalent about David McCullough’s John Adams. The American public apparently agrees with the former, and is more positive about the latter. John Adams was one of the publishing best-sellers of the last quarter-century. As for Hamilton, anything that has to do with public life that’s been praised by […]
The Founders Chic of Hamilton
Posted on October 9, 2015 at the NYU Press blog, From the Square Hamilton is the hottest ticket on Broadway. Anyone who’s been lucky enough to see it or hear it (here’s the soundtrack, for now) knows it’s thrilling. But Founders Chic, the recent worshiping of our illustrious nation-building heroes, has little to do with […]