tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52554992580045279122024-03-05T03:08:07.434-05:00World Wide WoodardThe blog of author and journalist Colin Woodard.Colin Woodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12452265910045355035noreply@blogger.comBlogger1095125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5255499258004527912.post-8504278297193402892021-05-21T17:01:00.008-04:002021-05-21T17:01:53.512-04:00World Wide Woodard is Moving!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTqT4bJC00UfcYdJIPmQ00ykr_2S6gj7IdubCQtDz7dFtQYmJiofVzi3gHn-fvHGNNerRWpY4XZ0OUojKB2bl7pzUpT8rPpDV9uvHUrs4C0MsphKdoVwbPM9BfL_XCEcEOiX3slfUAc6I/s1336/Screen+Shot+2021-05-21+at+5.00.03+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="554" data-original-width="1336" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTqT4bJC00UfcYdJIPmQ00ykr_2S6gj7IdubCQtDz7dFtQYmJiofVzi3gHn-fvHGNNerRWpY4XZ0OUojKB2bl7pzUpT8rPpDV9uvHUrs4C0MsphKdoVwbPM9BfL_XCEcEOiX3slfUAc6I/w383-h159/Screen+Shot+2021-05-21+at+5.00.03+PM.png" width="383" /></a></div><br /><p>A programing note for all you loyal readers out there: <b>World Wide Woodard is moving</b>.</p><p>For 12 and a half years now -- starting on a <a href="http://colinwoodard.blogspot.com/2009/01/in-iceland.html">crisp night in Reykjavik, Iceland</a> in the aftermath of the 2008 financial collapse -- this blog has been hosted here at Blogger. But I recently (and very belatedly) launched <a href="http://www.colinwoodard.com">a newly revamped website</a>, replacing my circa 2001 home built embarrassment for a beautifully rendered and professionally designed replacement courtesy of <a href="https://www.springtidestudio.com">Springtide Studio</a> in Portland, Maine. And the new website can host my blog in one delightful, analytically seamless spot.</p><p>So, starting yesterday, I've started posting my fresh material there -- at <a href="http://www.colinwoodard.com/articles" style="font-weight: bold;">www.colinwoodard.com/articles</a> -- and will be, for the most part at least, not replicating the posts here on Blogger, so as to encourage everyone to start following me there. (All posts up until this one have been replicated there as well.)</p><p>So please check out the new site, let me know what you think, and thank you as always for reading.</p>Colin Woodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12452265910045355035noreply@blogger.com37tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5255499258004527912.post-46781744269571499362021-05-13T16:37:00.005-04:002021-05-21T17:06:50.158-04:00Union a Finalist for a Maine Literary Award<div class="separator"><div class="entry-content cf" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(45, 45, 45); color: #2d2d2d; font-size: 16px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; zoom: 1;"><span style="background-color: white; display: inline; float: left; height: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: 1.5em; max-width: 100%;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-1950 alignleft" height="279" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 291px) 100vw, 291px" src="https://colinwoodard.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-13-at-4.07.28-PM-300x288.png" srcset="https://colinwoodard.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-13-at-4.07.28-PM-300x288.png 300w, https://colinwoodard.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-13-at-4.07.28-PM.png 620w" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 1.5em 0px auto; max-width: 100%;" width="291" /></span><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">I</span><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">’m honored that my latest book, <a href="https://colinwoodard.com/books/union/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #4198c8; text-decoration: none;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Union: The Struggle to Forge the Story of United States Nationhood</span></a>, has been <a href="https://www.mainewriters.org/events/2021-finalists" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #4198c8; text-decoration: none;">named a finalist for the 2021 Maine Literary Award for Non-Fiction</a>, an honor the other two books in the “series” also received. Competition will be fierce, though, as fellow Mainer <a href="https://www.kerri-arsenault.com/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #4198c8; text-decoration: none;">Kerri Arsenault</a>‘s <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Mill Town</span> is among them.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">The award is given by the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance, a worthy non-profit supporting the state’s literary community. The winners will be announced at this year’s (virtual) <a href="https://www.mainewriters.org/calendar/maine-literary-awards-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #4198c8; text-decoration: none;">awards ceremony the evening of May 27</a>.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;">For more on <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Union</span>, visit the new webpage <a href="https://www.colinwoodard.com/union" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #4198c8; text-decoration: none;">here</a>. <a href="https://colinwoodard.com/books/american-nations/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #4198c8; text-decoration: none;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">American Nations</span> </a>and <a href="https://colinwoodard.com/books/american-character/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #4198c8; text-decoration: none;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">American Character</span></a> — which together with <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Union</span> form an informal trilogy on United States nationhood and its myriad problems — won the award in 2012 and 2016 respectively.</span></p></div></div><p> </p><header class="article-header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(45, 45, 45); color: #2d2d2d; font-family: apertura, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; padding: 0px 0px 2.5em;"><h1 class="main_title" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(239, 239, 239); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: bookmania, serif; font-size: 34px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.333em; margin: 0px 0px 0.67em; padding: 0.5em 1em 0px 0px; position: relative; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; text-transform: uppercase;"><br /></h1></header><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Colin Woodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12452265910045355035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5255499258004527912.post-10214027434636051612021-05-10T17:59:00.001-04:002021-05-10T17:59:34.645-04:00Talking pirates with Press Herald Live, May 13, 7pm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFwUUkJdXJqOaaScfF-R6csejQ4G9Xjc0BrHiwlTu7Ac6O2XcSBTSUkhg3jAFY-CXZZXy7Z1yB5jcJzJ7sKqeKuKPgG_eN69ppu7OBSbsF6e_pQMNoIQYtujGT9VF59M2pV9fMnfgzCUc/s766/Screen+Shot+2021-05-10+at+5.55.55+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="221" data-original-width="766" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFwUUkJdXJqOaaScfF-R6csejQ4G9Xjc0BrHiwlTu7Ac6O2XcSBTSUkhg3jAFY-CXZZXy7Z1yB5jcJzJ7sKqeKuKPgG_eN69ppu7OBSbsF6e_pQMNoIQYtujGT9VF59M2pV9fMnfgzCUc/s320/Screen+Shot+2021-05-10+at+5.55.55+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div><p>For subscribers of the <i>Portland Press Herald</i>: I'll be talking with colleague Katherine Lee about the real pirates of the Caribbean, what it was like to write and research <i><a href="https://colinwoodard.com/books/republic-of-pirates/">Republic of Pirates</a></i>, and the experience of being an on-camera expert for Netflix's recent hit docudrama series "<a href="https://colinwoodard.blogspot.com/2021/04/what-netflixs-lost-pirate-kingdom-got.html">Lost Pirate Kingdom</a>." Should be fun and I'll be answering audience questions as well.</p><p>The pandemic is still on so this is a virtual event. Good news is you don't have to travel, but you do need to subscribe. But, hey, if you do it's free and you get to support local journalism here in Maine. </p><p>It all kicks off online this Thursday, May 13 at 7pm. Registration details <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/04/13/subscriber-exclusive-rum-democracy-and-the-crash-the-short-history-of-the-pirates-republic/">here</a>.</p>Colin Woodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12452265910045355035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5255499258004527912.post-62623051805934975942021-05-09T20:32:00.005-04:002021-05-10T10:31:51.017-04:00Meet Christiane Northrup, Maine's Doctor of Disinformation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKLcSk2QAYkKQ-Byr1adLS27IkJqCjQvEMmCV0j5ttcdGb2Nanba3X8uIqglPIBZwIrySoXPR4EpHabsR_1_TT-wrzAbQVdzM3TxKcR4fyWmpo7jiMH_Cn80A8oD9X9Nh53xHzit-8g8o/s416/Maine+Sunday+Telegram+logo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="121" data-original-width="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKLcSk2QAYkKQ-Byr1adLS27IkJqCjQvEMmCV0j5ttcdGb2Nanba3X8uIqglPIBZwIrySoXPR4EpHabsR_1_TT-wrzAbQVdzM3TxKcR4fyWmpo7jiMH_Cn80A8oD9X9Nh53xHzit-8g8o/s320/Maine+Sunday+Telegram+logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>Maine's very own celebrity doctor, Christiane Northrup of <i>Women's Bodies, Women's Selves</i> fame, has called about by US Senators and <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/04/30/instagram-blocks-account-of-celebrity-maine-doctor-who-spreads-vaccine-disinformation/">banned from Instagram</a> for being one of the "disinformation dozen," a group of anti-vaccine propagandists said to be responsible for nearly two thirds of such content on social media. But, <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/05/02/meet-christiane-northrup-doctor-of-disinformation/">as I described in the <i>Maine Sunday Telegram</i> last week, Northrup's message is much farther "out there" then you'll probably expect</a>.</p><p>She's been telling her followers -- and in-person Q-adjacent conference attendees -- to stay away from vaccinated people because they're allegedly contagious with malignant vaccine particles that have turned them -- and maybe you -- into remote-controllable slaves via the micro robots (and two-way 5G antennas) injected into them with the vaccine... all as part of a global plot by an elite to somehow advantage Bill and Melinda Gates (together and separately, one assumes) via the medium of cryptocurrency. And that's just the start of it.</p><p>Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/05/06/maine-hospitals-see-surge-of-unvaccinated-covid-19-patients-requiring-intensive-care/">Maine has been undergoing an ICU surge from unvaccinated people</a> -- many of them under 50 -- who are coming down with very acute forms of COVID-19, a topic I wrote about later in the week in the <i>Portland Press Herald</i>.</p><p><br /></p>Colin Woodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12452265910045355035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5255499258004527912.post-71066978346921984602021-05-01T13:43:00.001-04:002021-05-01T13:43:09.453-04:00Congressional earmarks are back -- Here are Maine's House member's short lists<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKLcSk2QAYkKQ-Byr1adLS27IkJqCjQvEMmCV0j5ttcdGb2Nanba3X8uIqglPIBZwIrySoXPR4EpHabsR_1_TT-wrzAbQVdzM3TxKcR4fyWmpo7jiMH_Cn80A8oD9X9Nh53xHzit-8g8o/s416/Maine+Sunday+Telegram+logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="121" data-original-width="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKLcSk2QAYkKQ-Byr1adLS27IkJqCjQvEMmCV0j5ttcdGb2Nanba3X8uIqglPIBZwIrySoXPR4EpHabsR_1_TT-wrzAbQVdzM3TxKcR4fyWmpo7jiMH_Cn80A8oD9X9Nh53xHzit-8g8o/s320/Maine+Sunday+Telegram+logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>After a ten year hiatus, the US House is restoring earmarks, the member-directed spending requests that were eliminated after a series of corruption scandals. The change -- which includes a variety of guardrails to make corruption far more difficult -- received bipartisan endorsement in the chamber.</p><p>Each member of the House can request ten earmarks, though only a fraction are likely to receive funding in the final cut months from now. But <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/04/29/pingree-golden-unveil-earmark-requests-for-federal-funding-of-20-maine-projects/">here are the 20 projects the two Democrats in my state, Maine, chose, via the <i>Portland Press Herald</i></a>. (That's Rep. Chellie Pingree and Rep. Jared Golden for those who don't follow our state as closely as all peoples of the world should.)</p><p>I <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/04/05/earmarks-returning-to-congress-where-maines-delegation-has-outsize-influence-in-the-right-places/">wrote earlier on the earmarks process</a> and how Pingree would have an outsized influence, due to <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/01/25/pingree-to-chair-powerful-appropriations-subcommittee-overseeing-interior-epa/?rel=related">her chairmanship of a Appropriations subcommittee</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Colin Woodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12452265910045355035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5255499258004527912.post-50860874488749220282021-04-28T10:32:00.001-04:002021-04-28T10:32:06.636-04:00Maine's redistricting hits a constitutional Catch-22<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho5v7h08z5gVsXuJn9DsVytPGZKp8gNkKKec_vrxlnh3O2QQBKEhdwWuWZqtOhJmffd1AOVmblhpWcnhv6bkHUlsAmYlii0im-ZX4V1TrR9BfEPUzmwn2Rvb4BDNzirRIech-992DEBtc/s416/Maine+Sunday+Telegram+logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="121" data-original-width="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho5v7h08z5gVsXuJn9DsVytPGZKp8gNkKKec_vrxlnh3O2QQBKEhdwWuWZqtOhJmffd1AOVmblhpWcnhv6bkHUlsAmYlii0im-ZX4V1TrR9BfEPUzmwn2Rvb4BDNzirRIech-992DEBtc/s320/Maine+Sunday+Telegram+logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>As you've probably heard, the pandemic (and the Trump administration) delayed the 2020 US Census, upon which states must redraw their congressional and legislative districts to account for relative population changes over the past decade. </p><p>Here's the problem <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/04/18/maine-redistricting-thrown-into-confusion-by-census-delay-constitutional-catch-22/">I wrote about in this week's <i>Maine Sunday Telegram</i></a>. The Census Bureau won't be able to provide the requisite data until late August. In Maine the state constitution requires these maps be completed in June AND that they be based on said data.</p><p>What happens next? Nobody really seems to know, though there's a consensus that the state's highest court will somehow solve it. Details in the story.</p><p>Also, I've been neglecting the blog of late because my newly revamped website has had a soft launch and, in theory, will be hosting this blog. The latter is still a work in progress, but you can check out the site <a href="http://www.colinwoodard.com">here</a>.</p>Colin Woodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12452265910045355035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5255499258004527912.post-47260160780650980222021-04-13T08:09:00.001-04:002021-04-13T08:09:21.601-04:00What Netflix's "Lost Pirate Kingdom" Got Right (and wrong) About the Golden Age Pirates<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4WSNAqKb0_uqVfPAqD08PJLoLeBWit54EBZ3z2V6RHJjx4iUmDY8L1uvPiXQmI5W9rf_lvqlXFxaKnOnV1EJjtM4psPnIWU8YCXTcxQHgukSN5hysksNsJ-XeYkx-lY9dTU-qaB3TWw8/s225/TPM-Logo.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4WSNAqKb0_uqVfPAqD08PJLoLeBWit54EBZ3z2V6RHJjx4iUmDY8L1uvPiXQmI5W9rf_lvqlXFxaKnOnV1EJjtM4psPnIWU8YCXTcxQHgukSN5hysksNsJ-XeYkx-lY9dTU-qaB3TWw8/s0/TPM-Logo.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><p>I greatly enjoyed being an on-camera expert for Netflix's hit docudrama series "Lost Pirate Kingdom," which essentially tells the story of the Golden Age pirate gang related in my 2007 work of history, <i><a href="https://colinwoodard.com/books/republic-of-pirates/">The Republic of Pirates</a>.</i></p><p>But how accurate was the six-part series, which has reignited interest in Blackbeard and his peers in the Flying Gang?</p><p>I wrote up <a href="https://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/what-netflixs-lost-pirate-kingdom-got-right-and-wrong-about-the-golden-age-pirate-gang" target="_blank">my thoughts on that over at <i>Talking Points Memo</i></a>. Hope you enjoy it and the series.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Colin Woodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12452265910045355035noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5255499258004527912.post-43958114022880127912021-03-31T10:59:00.008-04:002021-05-01T13:47:55.970-04:00Where to find signed books in coastal Maine, March 31 edition<p>More than a year into the pandemic I was realizing that I haven't set foot south of Portsmouth, New Hampshire since February 2020, despite having a book come out. But things are slowly loosening up as vaccinations increase and in the past week or two I've been able to sign books at a number of bookstores on the coast of Maine, where I live.</p><p>In support of local indie bookstores, I thought I'd advertise where those signed copies are right now. Proceeding from southwest to northeast....</p><p>[<b>Update, 4/16/21:</b> In <b>Newington, N.H</b>.'s <b>Barnes & Noble</b> as of today. (The trilogy, <i>Lobster Coast</i>, and <i>Republic of Pirates.</i>)]</p><p>In <b>Portland</b>: at <b>Sherman's on Exchange Street</b> (The American Nations trilogy and <i>Lobster Coast</i>) and <b>Longfellow Books</b> (all of them.)</p><p>In <b>Freeport</b>: at <b>Sherman's</b>. (The American Nations trilogy and<i> Lobster Coast</i>) </p><p>In <b>Brunswick</b>: at <b>Gulf of Maine Books</b>. (Ditto)</p><p>In <b>Augusta</b>: at <b>Barnes & Noble</b>. (<i>American Nations, Lobster Coast, Republic of Pirates, Union</i>.)</p><p>[<b>Update, 4/15/21</b>: In <b>Damariscotta</b> at <b>Sherman's</b> (ditto).]</p><p>[<b>Update, 4/30/21</b>: In <b>Camden</b> at <b>Owl & Turtle</b>. (All save <i>Ocean's End.</i>)</p><p>In <b>Belfast</b>: at <b>Left Bank Books</b>. These copies:</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZRrnauiWV3RGFxRjT-FNR327DwKunBif35pVqnT5TZvhaDCvksFHW1mJaLs7so6YbObgF5IGFgNIfHAHu8Yo7LxSFr58HAwvN0jhNsJEqL5rqOVwFC1TsDw4sUYXhTDZ5Je_h-V2N5_k/s960/signed+books+at+left+bank.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZRrnauiWV3RGFxRjT-FNR327DwKunBif35pVqnT5TZvhaDCvksFHW1mJaLs7so6YbObgF5IGFgNIfHAHu8Yo7LxSFr58HAwvN0jhNsJEqL5rqOVwFC1TsDw4sUYXhTDZ5Je_h-V2N5_k/s320/signed+books+at+left+bank.jpg" /></a></div><p>In <b>Bucksport</b>: at <b>BookStacks</b>. (<i>Union, American Nations, American Character.</i>)</p><p>In <b>Castine</b>: at <b>Compass Rose Books</b>. These copies:</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIxEjD4cxTa62fqFTjV7ARcIbkrdby8suX0lovy8Bw_L20VWNAq4xSfORnloAemwGC9QAShawucmO5rllFFndK2pCPBuBfvep8YMecBlid3gPs6s2o-V8Z6hlpNHVCEWgIT5li6PUnOck/s2016/Exf0r0RXAAAebgY.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIxEjD4cxTa62fqFTjV7ARcIbkrdby8suX0lovy8Bw_L20VWNAq4xSfORnloAemwGC9QAShawucmO5rllFFndK2pCPBuBfvep8YMecBlid3gPs6s2o-V8Z6hlpNHVCEWgIT5li6PUnOck/s320/Exf0r0RXAAAebgY.jpeg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In Blue Hill: <b>Blue Hill Books</b>. These titles:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO9fCCyQ5UG4GSCQ73768zRocEJKBN7A32uVbkvLLNP6IIqxl-lIIxT0lJsS-YFsgn0IIlNbUPWEI4kcfYrnsi11RznbF9mgQRRXLdiuaQEVTFGskEK8peBpJFCGiuX9Mv7BOzmFdtZXM/s960/signed+books+at+Blue+Hill+books.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO9fCCyQ5UG4GSCQ73768zRocEJKBN7A32uVbkvLLNP6IIqxl-lIIxT0lJsS-YFsgn0IIlNbUPWEI4kcfYrnsi11RznbF9mgQRRXLdiuaQEVTFGskEK8peBpJFCGiuX9Mv7BOzmFdtZXM/s320/signed+books+at+Blue+Hill+books.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Bar Harbor</b>: at <b>Sherman's</b> flagship store. This mountain of books:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp5nxfo7kiHweP-fdd3hvg0igUCK76Z3lnkLN9vHGwPCTp6HqboFF0MUOHor6EJOi1-P1VyHr19AoGOJ7e2flEsoPWFajY5t07O5WETEl6VSdopDaH3x2yfERb8wcsaQ-n6aOAEtwKtZU/s960/signed+books+at+bar+harbor+shermans.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="604" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp5nxfo7kiHweP-fdd3hvg0igUCK76Z3lnkLN9vHGwPCTp6HqboFF0MUOHor6EJOi1-P1VyHr19AoGOJ7e2flEsoPWFajY5t07O5WETEl6VSdopDaH3x2yfERb8wcsaQ-n6aOAEtwKtZU/s320/signed+books+at+bar+harbor+shermans.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><p>Thanks for your support of your local bookstore, wherever you live.</p>Colin Woodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12452265910045355035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5255499258004527912.post-44060646552876278602021-03-24T10:14:00.003-04:002021-03-24T10:14:59.487-04:00What's up with Jared Golden, the most successful Democrat in Trumpland?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO2KvH7ZS6pGxgP1lCit4W5g5asiLVIqqnmsBguzObhePpgBK0SR54ojeBk3arsrxRevL2IvzPRgidHKzGeZgtysZXusiAPQifNWkaC2xrZTV4u9iit978ps6HOdEc51uIHwHC583cfNE/s416/Maine+Sunday+Telegram+logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="121" data-original-width="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO2KvH7ZS6pGxgP1lCit4W5g5asiLVIqqnmsBguzObhePpgBK0SR54ojeBk3arsrxRevL2IvzPRgidHKzGeZgtysZXusiAPQifNWkaC2xrZTV4u9iit978ps6HOdEc51uIHwHC583cfNE/s320/Maine+Sunday+Telegram+logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>Maine's second district U.S. Representative, Jared Golden, has been causing a lot of heartburn among fellow Democrats of late. He was the only member of the party not to vote for both the articles of impeachment against President Trump in December 2019, one of two to vote against enhanced background checks and the George Floyd police reform bill, and the sole dissenter on the recent Covid relief bill, which polling shows has overwhelming public support, including from a majority of Republicans. Add to that his opposition to reappointing Nancy Pelosi as House Speaker and his refusal to endorse Democratic nominee Sara Gideon in her ill-fated race against Sen. Susan Collins last year and a lot of them are unhappy.</p><p>Except Golden -- a Marine veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq who studied politics at Bates and worked as a Homeland Security committee staffer for Collins -- has done things few other Democrats can. In 2018 became the first person to defeat an incumbent in his district in 102 years, taking out a two-term Republican who sat on the campaign fund-generating banking committee. Last year he got over 30,000 Trump voters to back his reelection, helping him win a district by 6.3 percent that went for Trump by 7.4. His margin of victory is the highest of any House Democrat in a Trump district.</p><p>But what's his governing philosophy? Why does he vote the way he does? Does it work for his constituents? What's it mean for any future bid for statewide office? I sat down the Golden -- who is notoriously inaccessible to the press -- for two hours to answer those questions in <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/03/21/jared-golden-bucks-fellow-democrats-while-fighting-the-system/">this <i>Maine Sunday Telegram</i> profile</a>, which also appeared in his hometown <i>Sun Journal</i>. Hope you find it useful.</p>Colin Woodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12452265910045355035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5255499258004527912.post-47466486707423195672021-03-17T15:57:00.003-04:002021-03-17T15:57:27.878-04:00Telling the pirates' story on Netflix's "Lost Pirate Kingdom"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjZ5-LaxRKvgi-YBHJhqVAIIHU3bI3T8v-34akd1yLbmo2h6u9FQtMHuCBtLQQPp49IYABFp7SxUJ1ROVXrjqJ68MKeKNQzIuaKXauVdGbiC85X6Q3U6TGn8nrvWYvVmhVzfrKwj9GXYg/s590/The-Lost-Pirate-Kingdom-will-tell-the-story-of-Golden-Age-of-Piracy-of-2956845.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="590" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjZ5-LaxRKvgi-YBHJhqVAIIHU3bI3T8v-34akd1yLbmo2h6u9FQtMHuCBtLQQPp49IYABFp7SxUJ1ROVXrjqJ68MKeKNQzIuaKXauVdGbiC85X6Q3U6TGn8nrvWYvVmhVzfrKwj9GXYg/w357-h212/The-Lost-Pirate-Kingdom-will-tell-the-story-of-Golden-Age-of-Piracy-of-2956845.jpg" width="357" /></a></div><br /><p>Netflix's new historical docudrama story on the Caribbean pirates, "<a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81035118">Lost Pirate Kingdom</a>," came out Tuesday and is already a hit, standing at #3 of all titles on Netflix's US site, #4 for them in the UK and #1 in Denmark.</p><p>It essentially tells the story I revealed in my 2007 work of history <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Republic-Pirates-Surprising-Caribbean-Brought/dp/015603462X/ref=ed_oe_p">The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and The Man Who Brought Them Down</a></i>, and I appear throughout as one of their taking head experts. But the voice of the show is Derek Jacobi, appropriately enough, the actor who played the aging Duke of Windsor in The Crown, among other roles.</p><p>Hope you enjoy the six-episode series. For more on the real story of Blackbeard and his gang, do consider the book, which is also available in <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Republic-Pirates-surprising-Caribbean-pirates/dp/1509841911/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=">UK</a> and <a href="https://bibliotek.dk/eng/work/870970-basis%3A27400140">Danish</a> editions.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Colin Woodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12452265910045355035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5255499258004527912.post-39923393810305864272021-03-16T13:48:00.002-04:002021-03-16T13:48:18.090-04:00The Year of Living Distantly<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO2KvH7ZS6pGxgP1lCit4W5g5asiLVIqqnmsBguzObhePpgBK0SR54ojeBk3arsrxRevL2IvzPRgidHKzGeZgtysZXusiAPQifNWkaC2xrZTV4u9iit978ps6HOdEc51uIHwHC583cfNE/s416/Maine+Sunday+Telegram+logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="121" data-original-width="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO2KvH7ZS6pGxgP1lCit4W5g5asiLVIqqnmsBguzObhePpgBK0SR54ojeBk3arsrxRevL2IvzPRgidHKzGeZgtysZXusiAPQifNWkaC2xrZTV4u9iit978ps6HOdEc51uIHwHC583cfNE/s320/Maine+Sunday+Telegram+logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>We're one year into the global pandemic and I, at least, feel my heart rate increase when I think back to those scary days in late March and early April 2020 when nobody knew for sure what was going to happen next. Thankfully it appears clear we're at the beginning of the end, and we didn't end up living in <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Road_(2009_film)">The Road</a></i>.</p><p>Among Americans, we Mainers have gotten off lightly, but it's still be a wrenching experience that will transform society. So for the anniversary of the pandemic I took stock in how the pandemic effected and changed different sectors of life, from the elderly who paid the most terrible price to schools, restaurants, hospitals, and the performing arts. You can <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/03/14/the-year-of-living-distantly/">read it all in this week's <i>Maine Sunday Telegram</i>, or online here</a>.</p><p><br /></p>Colin Woodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12452265910045355035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5255499258004527912.post-69037328167491644202021-03-09T12:36:00.004-05:002021-03-09T12:36:45.578-05:00Speaking on Maine's past, present and future at Maine Historical Society, Mar. 11<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCLiqwu18vB_2ay88XupWtCadVHPdSj27fRt_XIIPHfxcYUFi0csqCtScEPDhC-EY-kIo16aEMxrTPTJK5tABRLyq1F3k4fEcm7zv4AZXiOli5mQEqEcplSCjH-WE0fBvR7Uxenhj7LWo/s397/Screen+Shot+2021-03-08+at+10.24.07+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="265" data-original-width="397" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCLiqwu18vB_2ay88XupWtCadVHPdSj27fRt_XIIPHfxcYUFi0csqCtScEPDhC-EY-kIo16aEMxrTPTJK5tABRLyq1F3k4fEcm7zv4AZXiOli5mQEqEcplSCjH-WE0fBvR7Uxenhj7LWo/s320/Screen+Shot+2021-03-08+at+10.24.07+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><p>The pandemic messed with Maine's 200th anniversary celebrations last year, but the Maine Historical Society has rebooted their Bicentennial speaker series this winter and made it virtual. I'm pleased to be able to be their final speaker, offering my take on what the two centuries before and since statehood have meant for Maine and its people.</p><p><a href="https://www.mainehistory.org/programs_events.shtml#event_999">The event -- a conversation between MeHS executive director Steve Bromage and myself</a> -- kicks off at 6pm on March 11. It's free to members -- though there's a limit of 500 attendees -- but you do need to <a href="https://www.mainehistory.org/programs_events.shtml#event_999">register </a>ahead of time. You can also become a member, of course, and enjoy the various other perks of doing so. (I've been one since I returned to Maine in 2003 while finishing work on my book on our state's history, <i><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/291260/the-lobster-coast-by-colin-woodard/">The Lobster Coast: Rebels, Rusticators and the Struggle for a Forgotten Frontier</a></i>.</p><p>For more on Maine's deep backstory, consider the book or my 2020 <i>Press Herald</i> series "<a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2020/03/05/colony/">Colony</a>." I also wrote a bit about what his all means <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/12/27/opinion/maine-can-finally-get-out-massachusetts-shadow/">for the <i>Boston Globe</i></a> Opinion section.</p><p><br /></p>Colin Woodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12452265910045355035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5255499258004527912.post-49878682466734925112021-03-06T17:55:00.008-05:002021-03-16T13:49:46.273-04:00Talking pirates on a forthcoming Netflix series<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="316" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BPvIa9NANlc" width="380" youtube-src-id="BPvIa9NANlc"></iframe></div><br /><div>A few months before the pandemic struck I travelled to a Manhattan studio to film an hours-long interview with a British production company working on a documentary-drama on the Bahamas-based pirate gang who are the subject of one of works of history, <i><a href="https://www.hmhco.com/shop/books/The-Republic-of-Pirates/9780156034623">The Republic of Pirates</a></i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm pleased to see that that series, for Netflix, is being released March 15th and is entitled "<a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81035118">Lost Pirate Kingdom</a>." Based on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPvIa9NANlc">the trailer</a> it should be a hoot.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>If you find yourself hankering for more of Blackbeard and his gang's story, do consider checking out the book. And either way enjoy the show.</div><div><br /></div><div>[<b>Update, 3/15/21</b>: <a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81035118">Episode 1 out now</a>.]</div><div><br /></div>Colin Woodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12452265910045355035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5255499258004527912.post-65305890893385501652021-03-01T14:21:00.002-05:002021-03-01T14:21:33.763-05:00United States' myth of nationhood is all-important, but it carries a curse<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihB1JFuWfe_q3Ig2M-P1iCQFpOR9Zaxg9SO1ivcab4yRCvOQkchwIRLDxf6Fn8vnduZE-3A1b5iH6hzI3B7A-qx_o9wY3_oZ164HbhaU7yu1_wFMXMLhcHa04S1l1osh98gWHnjGiAL0I/s722/Screen+Shot+2021-03-01+at+2.10.18+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="527" data-original-width="722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihB1JFuWfe_q3Ig2M-P1iCQFpOR9Zaxg9SO1ivcab4yRCvOQkchwIRLDxf6Fn8vnduZE-3A1b5iH6hzI3B7A-qx_o9wY3_oZ164HbhaU7yu1_wFMXMLhcHa04S1l1osh98gWHnjGiAL0I/s320/Screen+Shot+2021-03-01+at+2.10.18+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div><p>The United States needs its national myth of shared nationhood more than most countries because it's almost the only thing that has held our rival regional cultures together. But, as I revealed in my latest book, <i><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/585763/union-by-colin-woodard/">Union: The Struggle to Forge the Story of United States Nationhood</a></i>, our civic national myth about being bonded together by fealty to shared ideals has always been contested -- and for decades defeated by -- a rival, ethno-nationalist vision.</p><p>I unpack all this in the context of the ongoing crisis exemplified by the attempted ethnonationalist coup on January 6th in <a href="https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2021/02/22/america-nationhood-george-bancroft-frederick-douglass/ideas/essay/">this essay for <b>Zocalo Public Square</b></a> and <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/determining-americas-national-myth-will-determine-countrys-fate-180977067/"><i><b>Smithsonian Magazine</b></i>,</a> including some advice on how to save the federation and the republic. I hope you enjoy.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Colin Woodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12452265910045355035noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5255499258004527912.post-84699277325360496652021-02-26T09:35:00.005-05:002021-02-26T09:43:47.001-05:00Maine: Why the growing regional disconnect between vaccine need and supply?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj04myfesQBD805ZLfAY9qj2A-BVzKjUmIm5m3KXifUjNejvFAqU7gi4c6gaAfx_ttATEYNL7zkwkPUPh33zRKfJaNQWnL8vIxMyiDOUuBdBBxEQGVMi3MHZDJK-awSo1Gq4at5G2nWl3g/s1175/Screen+Shot+2021-02-26+at+9.40.51+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="436" data-original-width="1175" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj04myfesQBD805ZLfAY9qj2A-BVzKjUmIm5m3KXifUjNejvFAqU7gi4c6gaAfx_ttATEYNL7zkwkPUPh33zRKfJaNQWnL8vIxMyiDOUuBdBBxEQGVMi3MHZDJK-awSo1Gq4at5G2nWl3g/w401-h149/Screen+Shot+2021-02-26+at+9.40.51+AM.png" width="401" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/02/25/disparity-in-vaccine-distributions-across-maine-worsens-and-there-are-conflicting-explanations/" style="text-align: left;">In yesterday's <i>Portland Press Herald</i> </a><span style="text-align: left;">I explored why the state's top public health official had to essentially do a two-minute advertisement to help the mass vaccination site in Bangor fill vaccination slots while the one serving the county with the largest number of still unvaccinated 70+ year olds continued to run under capacity for lack of vaccine.</span></div><p>The answer was surprising, in that that official -- Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention director Nirav Shah -- and the state's largest hospital network and operator of the southern Maine vaccine site -- have completely contradictory ones. Maine CDC says they continue to give large allocations of vaccine to the Bangor site while those in other parts of the state have huge waiting lists because the other sites don't have the capacity to take more. Not so, says MaineHealth, which says they have latent capacity and been begging for bigger supplies for some time, which Maine CDC isn't giving them.</p><p>As you'll see in <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/02/25/disparity-in-vaccine-distributions-across-maine-worsens-and-there-are-conflicting-explanations/">the story</a>, Shah intimates that MaineHealth hasn't demonstrated an ability to take more, likely an allusion to a scandal involving the vaccination of indelible workers.</p><p>For wider context on where Maine stands with the pandemic, consider <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/02/14/how-maine-weathered-the-second-surge-and-what-lies-ahead/">this "step back and assess" feature</a> I wrote on the last five and half months of the crisis.</p><p><br /></p>Colin Woodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12452265910045355035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5255499258004527912.post-17910144982655554912021-02-24T21:38:00.006-05:002021-02-24T21:38:45.833-05:00Penobscot elder Donna Loring on the future of Maine-tribal relations<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO2KvH7ZS6pGxgP1lCit4W5g5asiLVIqqnmsBguzObhePpgBK0SR54ojeBk3arsrxRevL2IvzPRgidHKzGeZgtysZXusiAPQifNWkaC2xrZTV4u9iit978ps6HOdEc51uIHwHC583cfNE/s416/Maine+Sunday+Telegram+logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="121" data-original-width="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO2KvH7ZS6pGxgP1lCit4W5g5asiLVIqqnmsBguzObhePpgBK0SR54ojeBk3arsrxRevL2IvzPRgidHKzGeZgtysZXusiAPQifNWkaC2xrZTV4u9iit978ps6HOdEc51uIHwHC583cfNE/s320/Maine+Sunday+Telegram+logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>Donna Loring has for decades been a major figure in Maine-tribal relations: legislator, tribal council member, aide to two governors, author and public intellectual. Now, fresh off her time as tribal relations advisor to Governor Janet Mills, the Penobscot elder took time to speak with me about her take on the future of the fraught relationship and the prospects for a negotiated reform of the Maine Settlement Act, which restricted Maine tribe's sovereignty.</p><p>You can <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/02/16/donna-loring-recently-retired-tribal-affairs-adviser-to-gov-mills-says-a-sovereignty-deal-can-be-reached/">read all about it in this article over at the <i>Maine Sunday Telegram</i></a>.</p><p>For more background on the tribes and the Settlement Act, <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2014/07/16/the-settlement-bears-poisonous-fruit-legal-ambiguity/">start here</a>, read about <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2020/01/07/gov-mills-grants-full-pardon-to-the-late-tribal-attorney-donald-gellers/?rel=related">Mills's pardoning of the Passamaquoddy tribe's late attorney Donald Gellers </a>-- driven from the county in a state-directed conspiracy -- and the backstory for understanding the tribes' predicament in <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/unsettled/?rel=related">"Unsettled," a 32-part series I wrote for the <i>Press Herald</i> </a>a few years back.</p><p><br /></p>Colin Woodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12452265910045355035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5255499258004527912.post-40231882811013646982021-02-17T11:45:00.003-05:002021-02-17T11:45:54.478-05:00Maine and the pandemic: where things stand 11 months on<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO2KvH7ZS6pGxgP1lCit4W5g5asiLVIqqnmsBguzObhePpgBK0SR54ojeBk3arsrxRevL2IvzPRgidHKzGeZgtysZXusiAPQifNWkaC2xrZTV4u9iit978ps6HOdEc51uIHwHC583cfNE/s416/Maine+Sunday+Telegram+logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="121" data-original-width="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO2KvH7ZS6pGxgP1lCit4W5g5asiLVIqqnmsBguzObhePpgBK0SR54ojeBk3arsrxRevL2IvzPRgidHKzGeZgtysZXusiAPQifNWkaC2xrZTV4u9iit978ps6HOdEc51uIHwHC583cfNE/s320/Maine+Sunday+Telegram+logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>The second, deadlier coronavirus surge is ebbing in Maine and the U.S. generally -- a good juncture to step back and see where we've been, how things appeared to have played out and why, and what the road looks like ahead. I spoke to experts across the state to put together <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/02/14/how-maine-weathered-the-second-surge-and-what-lies-ahead/">this story on Act II of the pandemic</a> in this week's <i>Maine Sunday Telegram</i>.</p><p>I did a similar story <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2020/08/23/how-maine-flattened-the-virus-curve-so-far/">in late August on what I'd now call Act I</a>. Together they provide a sort of first draft of history on this insane time.</p><p>Hospitalizations for COVID-19 also fell last week. Details in <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/02/11/covid-19-hospitalizations-in-maine-hit-lowest-levels-since-november/">t</a><a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/02/11/covid-19-hospitalizations-in-maine-hit-lowest-levels-since-november/">his story</a> from last Friday's <i>Portland Press Herald</i>.</p>Colin Woodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12452265910045355035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5255499258004527912.post-34080853045048311442021-01-16T10:43:00.002-05:002021-02-01T14:15:29.795-05:00How we got here, the stakes and where we go now (in Washington Monthly)<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv-t-NFLRPYa7Xo4wSOH165jXiqsqPg6rEoKdutTg1JulEA6o3Gxhs2mvmvlFt726AsQM14aKchckFJceah-vhGEZYu4-wfQJJXbboIpm0KKhorzn6Tg9Bo7QrZDRl-d_OP_LkopKa_1o/s845/washington-monthly.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="845" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv-t-NFLRPYa7Xo4wSOH165jXiqsqPg6rEoKdutTg1JulEA6o3Gxhs2mvmvlFt726AsQM14aKchckFJceah-vhGEZYu4-wfQJJXbboIpm0KKhorzn6Tg9Bo7QrZDRl-d_OP_LkopKa_1o/s320/washington-monthly.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The United States, which was a state before it came up with an argument for being a nation as well, has always been vulnerable to dissolution. An accidental alliance of stateless nations -- the regional cultures described in <i><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/306345/american-nations-by-colin-woodard/9780143122029/">American Nations</a></i> -- it had to invent a national story to paper over the massive (and enduring) differences between its component sections (a story told in <i><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/585763/union-by-colin-woodard/">Union</a>.</i>)</div><p></p><p>As the social contract our liberal democratic system relies on has been weakened by decades of drift into more extreme forms of individual liberty -- the story told in <i><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/317207/american-character-by-colin-woodard/9780143110002/">American Character</a></i> -- it's now under direct attack again by authoritarian ethnonationalism. It threatens to destroy both the federation and the republic.</p><p>How did this happen? What is the nature of the problem? How do we respond to reverse the damage. <a href="https://washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/january-february-march-2021/how-joe-biden-can-help-forge-a-new-national-narrative/">My thoughts laid out in the new issue of <i>Washington Monthly</i></a>, written in early December when we were already trundling toward the attempted coup on January 6. </p><p>For more, please consider the three books of the <i>American Nations</i> trilogy, starting with <i><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/585763/union-by-colin-woodard/">Union</a></i>.</p><p>Thanks to Real Clear Politics for <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/01/13/how_biden_can_help_forge_a_new_national_narrative_533415.html">plugging</a> the article earlier this week and to <i>Monthly </i>editors Paul Glastis and Daniel Block for their suggestions and improvements to the piece.</p><p>My last print edition story for <i>Washington Monthly</i> was <a href="https://washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/july-august-2020/what-makes-todays-dictators-different/">this review</a> of John Keane's <i>The New Despotism</i>.</p>Colin Woodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12452265910045355035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5255499258004527912.post-2487082002854860542021-01-15T17:42:00.000-05:002021-01-15T17:42:04.468-05:00Senator Angus King on the insurrection and accountability<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKLcSk2QAYkKQ-Byr1adLS27IkJqCjQvEMmCV0j5ttcdGb2Nanba3X8uIqglPIBZwIrySoXPR4EpHabsR_1_TT-wrzAbQVdzM3TxKcR4fyWmpo7jiMH_Cn80A8oD9X9Nh53xHzit-8g8o/s416/Maine+Sunday+Telegram+logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="121" data-original-width="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKLcSk2QAYkKQ-Byr1adLS27IkJqCjQvEMmCV0j5ttcdGb2Nanba3X8uIqglPIBZwIrySoXPR4EpHabsR_1_TT-wrzAbQVdzM3TxKcR4fyWmpo7jiMH_Cn80A8oD9X9Nh53xHzit-8g8o/s320/Maine+Sunday+Telegram+logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>I spoke with Senator Angus King (I-ME) last night about the attack on the Capitol and his views on how to ensure accountability for those who incited it, and not just the president. </p><p>He also told of his personal experiences at the Capitol on Jan. 6, including his reluctance to bunker with a horde of Senators and their staff, some of whom don't like to follow Covid-19 health guidance. </p><p><a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/01/14/sen-angus-king-frustrated-with-some-republican-colleagues-over-impeachment/">T</a><a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/01/14/sen-angus-king-frustrated-with-some-republican-colleagues-over-impeachment/">he interview is in today's <i>Portland Press Herald</i></a> and online.</p><p>Senator Susan Collins and Rep. Jared Golden have declined interview requests. For Rep. Chellie Pingree's views on accountability, see <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/01/11/pingree-cosponsors-resolution-to-investigate-147-members-of-congress-for-role-in-insurrection/">this piece</a> on the House resolution to investigate members of the sedition caucus.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Colin Woodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12452265910045355035noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5255499258004527912.post-7211444850145882532021-01-12T16:24:00.004-05:002021-01-13T19:09:46.957-05:00Impeachment: Maine's delegation, save Collins, demands Trump's immediate removal<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJWzwgp9BIOMb2mr87YICA5R9b8F1jUUGMRnhqrdFmIsbFkomVF7X0V89Sap1sFnKmIh9hfBuNGUZWErD9XGpUah3V2e10yuxPJA1AGMN8_6INRko-RR238X1FTYcRWoZmGbMgOoFI9E0/s416/Maine+Sunday+Telegram+logo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="121" data-original-width="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJWzwgp9BIOMb2mr87YICA5R9b8F1jUUGMRnhqrdFmIsbFkomVF7X0V89Sap1sFnKmIh9hfBuNGUZWErD9XGpUah3V2e10yuxPJA1AGMN8_6INRko-RR238X1FTYcRWoZmGbMgOoFI9E0/s320/Maine+Sunday+Telegram+logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>Three of Maine's four Congressional representatives are now on record demanding Trump's immediate removal from office for his role in the insurrection and terrorist attacks against Congress and the U.S. Capitol last week.</p><p><b>Senator Angus King (I)</b> weighed in today in a statement <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/01/12/king-supports-second-impeachment-calls-trump-a-danger-to-the-republic/">blasting Trump as a danger to the republic and calling out the 147 members of Congress's "sedition caucus"</a> who, hours after the deadly attack, voted to, in effect, end democracy by overturning a democratic election lost by the president. Details in <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/01/12/king-supports-second-impeachment-calls-trump-a-danger-to-the-republic/">this </a><i>Press Herald</i> story from a few hours ago.</p><p><b>Senator Susan Collins</b>, New England's only remaining Republican Congressional representative, has said she will not be commenting on impeachment because of her role as a "juror" in the Senate trial that will follow.</p><p><b>Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME01)</b> was ahead of the rest of the delegation, calling for Trump's removal <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/01/07/king-pingree-support-trumps-removal-under-25th-amendment/">almost immediately after the attack</a> and co-sponsoring a <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/01/11/pingree-cosponsors-resolution-to-investigate-147-members-of-congress-for-role-in-insurrection/">House resolution</a> to investigate the sedition caucus and consider removal via the 14th Amendment. Details in <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/01/11/pingree-cosponsors-resolution-to-investigate-147-members-of-congress-for-role-in-insurrection/">this</a> <i>Press Herald</i> story.</p><p><b>Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME02)</b> didn't reveal his position until last night, but when he did it was a <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/01/11/rep-golden-joins-pingree-in-support-of-trumps-impeachment/">direct and unequivocal condemnation of the president</a>. (Golden just won a second term in <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2020/11/05/the-two-maines-disagreed-again-but-trumps-support-declined-in-both/">a district that went for Trump by 7 points</a>.)</p><p>[<b>Update, 1/13/21</b>: <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/01/13/pingree-golden-vote-to-impeach-trump-for-second-time/">Pingree and Golden voted for impeachment this afternoon</a>. Trump became the first president in history to be impeached twice with 10 Republicans joining all Democrats in a 232-197 vote.]</p><p><br /></p>Colin Woodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12452265910045355035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5255499258004527912.post-27810335811000179122021-01-07T22:01:00.005-05:002021-01-08T20:02:13.236-05:00Post-coup attempt, Sen. King and Rep. Pingree support Trump removal via 25th Amendment <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigM5Ui11JOu8hKtPYP4Yt-tD2IqkqCCL4l8y4XkMS8FEIbomXeccwisZGZsWnrys4HU-0U-kFPikHRyO84Ss7nqyn5PkFDA2pnj3cw8rkr4PrQCQ5EacgOugHM8_gKoN7HlSfdQg-SlKk/s416/Maine+Sunday+Telegram+logo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="121" data-original-width="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigM5Ui11JOu8hKtPYP4Yt-tD2IqkqCCL4l8y4XkMS8FEIbomXeccwisZGZsWnrys4HU-0U-kFPikHRyO84Ss7nqyn5PkFDA2pnj3cw8rkr4PrQCQ5EacgOugHM8_gKoN7HlSfdQg-SlKk/s320/Maine+Sunday+Telegram+logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>A day after President Trump incited a mob to attack the Capitol in Washington, triggering five deaths and the evacuation of the building, half of Maine's Congressional delegation -- that's Senator King and Rep. Pingree -- supports the president's removal. Rep. Golden is taking a considered approach and Sen. Collins office isn't saying what her position is.</p><p>Details in <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/01/07/king-pingree-support-trumps-removal-under-25th-amendment/">my dispatch this evening in the <i>Portland Press Herald</i></a>.</p><p>Also today, because one major ongoing crisis is not enough, an update on the pandemic crisis here in Maine: r<a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/01/07/southern-maine-hospitals-hit-hard-as-maine-sets-covid-19-patient-record/">ecord Covid-19 hospitalizations this week</a> in the state, including all-time highs at MaineMed, SMHC Medical Center, and York Hospital.</p><p>[<b>Update, 1/8/20:</b> As 25th Amendment looks unlikely, attention turned today to impeachment, which appears to be inevitable in the House. But three of Maine's four Congressional representatives aren't -- or aren't yet -- saying where they stand. <a href="As momentum for Trump's second impeachment builds, Maine's Sen. King (I) and Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME02) aren't yet saying where they stand. Sen. Collins (R) says as a "juror" in potential Senate trial she won't be commenting. But Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME01) is definitely all in and says almost all the House Democratic caucus is as well. Details herein: https://www.pressherald.com/2021/01/08/as-momentum-builds-for-second-impeachment-of-trump-collins-king-and-goldens-stances-unknown/ ">Details in this evening's <i>Press Herald</i> dispatch</a>.]</p>Colin Woodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12452265910045355035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5255499258004527912.post-41659467429595824072021-01-05T11:46:00.003-05:002021-01-05T11:46:32.287-05:00Four dams, the Kennebec River and the future of US Atlantic salmon in the balance<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO2KvH7ZS6pGxgP1lCit4W5g5asiLVIqqnmsBguzObhePpgBK0SR54ojeBk3arsrxRevL2IvzPRgidHKzGeZgtysZXusiAPQifNWkaC2xrZTV4u9iit978ps6HOdEc51uIHwHC583cfNE/s416/Maine+Sunday+Telegram+logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="121" data-original-width="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO2KvH7ZS6pGxgP1lCit4W5g5asiLVIqqnmsBguzObhePpgBK0SR54ojeBk3arsrxRevL2IvzPRgidHKzGeZgtysZXusiAPQifNWkaC2xrZTV4u9iit978ps6HOdEc51uIHwHC583cfNE/s320/Maine+Sunday+Telegram+logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>While the pandemic has been raging across the world, a high-stakes battle over the future of one of Maine's largest river systems has been playing out in an obscure federal online docket, one with the future of Atlantic salmon in the United States in the balance.</p><p>In this week's <i>Maine Sunday Telegram</i> I wrote about <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/01/03/4-dams-the-future-of-kennebec-fish-runs-and-salmons-survival-at-stake-in-federal-licensing-battle/">the relicensing battle over one of four dams on the lower Kennebec River that stand between salmon, shad, alewives and the pristine habitat of the Sandy River</a> in Western Maine which, oddly enough, is where I learned to swim and spent a lot of my summers staying cool in as a kid. The struggle is between Brookfield Renewable, a subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management, the $100 billion Canadian venture capital firm, (which wants to do technical fixes to let the fish better pass the dams) and the state of Maine, conservationists, and recreational fishing interests (which want at least one and preferably two or three of the dams to be torn down.)</p><p>Details in the story.</p><p><br /></p>Colin Woodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12452265910045355035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5255499258004527912.post-40293312141300861532020-12-29T14:59:00.008-05:002020-12-31T09:01:04.102-05:00Regarding Maine on the occasion of its 200th anniversary of statehood, in the Boston Globe <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYOdgSZivxISTsmf7nud5tQ2t4Eg6yBoQ4GAtJON2suEm4MtpmsFpWbpVioWA1wUrq4HXdKWAdzCi8XR-2t1G5AguUOj3CgNT7LMwe4FiNpqkDbjEvBqbmJWztjdhyuY8P7SZ5T7wHPEw/s500/boston-globe-logo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYOdgSZivxISTsmf7nud5tQ2t4Eg6yBoQ4GAtJON2suEm4MtpmsFpWbpVioWA1wUrq4HXdKWAdzCi8XR-2t1G5AguUOj3CgNT7LMwe4FiNpqkDbjEvBqbmJWztjdhyuY8P7SZ5T7wHPEw/s320/boston-globe-logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>Maine turned 200 this year, but the Bicentennial celebrations were cancelled by the pandemic, with Gov. Mills spending the official birthday, March 15, advising Mainers to lockdown to prevent the spread of the then barely understood coronavirus.</p><p>I wrote a <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2020/03/05/colony/">six-part series</a> for the <i>Maine Sunday Telegram</i> on statehood's meaning that wrapped up just as Covid-19 spread into the state back in March, but I also wanted to present some key points to an external audience, one in Massachusetts in particular for reasons readers of <i><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/291260/the-lobster-coast-by-colin-woodard/">The Lobster Coast </a></i>will quickly ascertain. So <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/12/27/opinion/maine-can-finally-get-out-massachusetts-shadow/">in this week's <i>Boston Sunday Globe </i>Ideas section, I had this essay on Maine's experience as a colony of a colony</a>, how it shaped our culture and people, and the ways in which the pandemic and other global developments may shake up the postcolonial trajectory my native state has long been on. Hope you enjoy.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSZIvwHaQD6ATQQMzA4hnP0riGcKr6Go-_aUzCzhvn9fw6i1pn31O2qwsAKEtSkn1v3AYovQc-PuCyQyDK4zLIi5hcMtGxUp6ZBWphAenvbllpcJfiRGiu7kweHTibUFciGZ1sI1a8Vck/s198/Screen+Shot+2020-12-31+at+8.58.18+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="193" data-original-width="198" height="105" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSZIvwHaQD6ATQQMzA4hnP0riGcKr6Go-_aUzCzhvn9fw6i1pn31O2qwsAKEtSkn1v3AYovQc-PuCyQyDK4zLIi5hcMtGxUp6ZBWphAenvbllpcJfiRGiu7kweHTibUFciGZ1sI1a8Vck/w108-h105/Screen+Shot+2020-12-31+at+8.58.18+AM.png" width="108" /></a></div><p></p><p>This is my first byline in the <i>Globe</i>, but in September I <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/09/12/opinion/joe-biden-told-us-election-was-battle-soul-nation-he-was-right/?event=event12">spoke to</a> Ideas staff writer David Sharfenberg about the battle for the national "soul" of the U.S., the topic of my most recent book, <i><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/585763/union-by-colin-woodard/">Union</a></i>.</p><p><b>Update, 10/30/20:</b> Bloomberg's Boston bureau has <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/audio/2020-12-30/baystate-business-stimulus-vaccine-virus-radio">a radio show and podcast, <i>Bloomberg Baystate Business,</i></a> and hosts Tom Moroney and Joe Shortsleeve kindly had me on the show today to talk about the phenomena described in the Globe piece. My portion starts at 0:50:32.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Colin Woodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12452265910045355035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5255499258004527912.post-68791422872757303352020-12-09T13:58:00.004-05:002020-12-09T13:58:51.626-05:00UNION named a Best Non-fiction Book of 2020 by the Christian Science Monitor <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimby_2eozTmcRb1dk0B9F0ZBoiKek_rv5EVs31ZQk-1sAdvbl72nSvF1UJX9aI843NoDhirBzJo7HfCY-H7bhcqA9gfRIoa9ejE9eVRTWvJ_L1MErensv-_ylgdu4Sr1_em-LtKQgxEmU/s114/CSM-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="64" data-original-width="114" height="116" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimby_2eozTmcRb1dk0B9F0ZBoiKek_rv5EVs31ZQk-1sAdvbl72nSvF1UJX9aI843NoDhirBzJo7HfCY-H7bhcqA9gfRIoa9ejE9eVRTWvJ_L1MErensv-_ylgdu4Sr1_em-LtKQgxEmU/w206-h116/CSM-logo.jpg" width="206" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>My thanks to the <i>Christian Science Monitor</i>'s book reviewers <a href="https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/2020/1209/The-best-nonfiction-books-of-2020-offer-wisdom-and-insight">for naming <i>Union: The Struggle to Forge the Story of United States Nationhood </i>as a Best Non-Fiction Book of 2020</a>.</p><p>The <i>Monitor</i>'s review of the book can be found <a href="https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/Book-Reviews/2020/0624/Polishing-America-s-image-in-the-eyes-of-its-people">here</a>. It concludes: "<i>The stakes are nothing short of determining how a nation thinks about itself, how it teaches posterity about itself. In “Union,” that battle sprawls out of the narrow confines of academia and embroils the entire country – and the fight is ongoing.</i>"</p><p>Also pleased to share the list with friend Arial Sabar, who also had a book out this year, and a former source when I was focused on the oceans beat, Caro Safina.</p><p>For more on <i>Union</i>, start <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/585763/union-by-colin-woodard/">here</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Colin Woodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12452265910045355035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5255499258004527912.post-41543848126571191342020-12-06T13:38:00.001-05:002020-12-06T13:38:01.779-05:00COVID-19 continues its surge in Maine, stressing hospitals<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkPcl7jAfNKPosLu7zL-lDRNtNz5UfaI9_PCrsO0SJVySGEkKT3TSGFphGYV_LMW5jhFgXt5m4AluwZbklB3xBOSj2bf8_NNKBc1HSDlBRZKE98KZsk_SriM_YToyLRljPVSo0CBYYyHs/s1000/MEHopitalCovidCases120320.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="461" data-original-width="1000" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkPcl7jAfNKPosLu7zL-lDRNtNz5UfaI9_PCrsO0SJVySGEkKT3TSGFphGYV_LMW5jhFgXt5m4AluwZbklB3xBOSj2bf8_NNKBc1HSDlBRZKE98KZsk_SriM_YToyLRljPVSo0CBYYyHs/w348-h160/MEHopitalCovidCases120320.jpg" width="348" /></a></div><p>Maine is fortunate to be doing better than almost any other state in the U.S. when it comes to containing the pandemic, but that isn't saying much. Over the past week Covid-19 has continued to surge here, with hospitals beginning to sound the alarm that their capacity and staff could be overwhelmed if the public doesn't redouble their efforts to slow the spread of the disease.</p><p>I have two recent stories in the <i>Portland Press Herald</i> covering the latest developments. </p><p>The first, from Thursday's paper, looks at <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2020/12/02/as-covid-19-surges-maine-hospitals-holding-their-own-maine-med-feeling-stress/">the state of capacity at the state's hospitals</a>, which said they were holding their own by converting ordinary medical-surgical beds to ICU units to meet demand, though Maine Medical Center and Southern Maine Health Care Medical Center were both beginning to feel stress even then.</p><p>The second, from yesterday's print edition, provides <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2020/12/04/covid-19-hospitalization-return-to-peak-at-maine-med-surge-at-other-hospitals/">an exclusive look at hospital-by-hospital Covid admissions and the trends over time</a>. It shows a steep surge in recent days at MaineMed and record patient levels at most of the state's other major hospitals, including MaineGeneral, SMHC, and CMMC. Details herein.</p><p><br /></p>Colin Woodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12452265910045355035noreply@blogger.com0