Union a Finalist for a Maine Literary Award

I’m honored that my latest book, Union: The Struggle to Forge the Story of United States Nationhood, has been named a finalist for the 2021 Maine Literary Award for Non-Fiction, an honor the other two books in the “series” also received. Competition will be fierce, though, as fellow Mainer Kerri Arsenault‘s Mill Town is among them.

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) awards ceremony the evening of May 27.

For more on Union, visit the new webpage here. American Nations and American Character — which together with Union form an informal trilogy on United States nationhood and its myriad problems — won the award in 2012 and 2016 respectively.

 

Talking pirates with Press Herald Live, May 13, 7pm

For subscribers of the Portland Press Herald: I'll be talking with colleague Katherine Lee about the real pirates of the Caribbean, what it was like to write and research Republic of Pirates, and the experience of being an on-camera expert for Netflix's recent hit docudrama series "Lost Pirate Kingdom." Should be fun and I'll be answering audience questions as well.

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. 

It all kicks off online this Thursday, May 13 at 7pm. Registration details here.

What Netflix's "Lost Pirate Kingdom" Got Right (and wrong) About the Golden Age Pirates

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, The Republic of Pirates.

But how accurate was the six-part series, which has reignited interest in Blackbeard and his peers in the Flying Gang?

I wrote up my thoughts on that over at Talking Points Memo. Hope you enjoy it and the series.

Telling the pirates' story on Netflix's "Lost Pirate Kingdom"

Netflix's new historical docudrama story on the Caribbean pirates, "Lost Pirate Kingdom," 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.

It essentially tells the story I revealed in my 2007 work of history The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and The Man Who Brought Them Down, 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.

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 UK and Danish editions.

Talking pirates on a forthcoming Netflix series

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, The Republic of Pirates.

I'm pleased to see that that series, for Netflix, is being released March 15th and is entitled "Lost Pirate Kingdom." Based on the trailer it should be a hoot.

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.

[Update, 3/15/21: Episode 1 out now.]

United States' myth of nationhood is all-important, but it carries a curse

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, Union: The Struggle to Forge the Story of United States Nationhood, 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.

I unpack all this in the context of the ongoing crisis exemplified by the attempted ethnonationalist coup on January 6th in this essay for Zocalo Public Square and Smithsonian Magazine, including some advice on how to save the federation and the republic. I hope you enjoy.

How we got here, the stakes and where we go now (in Washington Monthly)

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 American Nations -- it had to invent a national story to paper over the massive (and enduring) differences between its component sections (a story told in Union.)

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 American Character -- it's now under direct attack again by authoritarian ethnonationalism. It threatens to destroy both the federation and the republic.

How did this happen? What is the nature of the problem? How do we respond to reverse the damage. My thoughts laid out in the new issue of Washington Monthly, written in early December when we were already trundling toward the attempted coup on January 6. 

For more, please consider the three books of the American Nations trilogy, starting with Union.

Thanks to Real Clear Politics for plugging the article earlier this week and to Monthly editors Paul Glastis and Daniel Block for their suggestions and improvements to the piece.

My last print edition story for Washington Monthly was this review of John Keane's The New Despotism.

Regarding Maine on the occasion of its 200th anniversary of statehood, in the Boston Globe

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.

I wrote a six-part series for the Maine Sunday Telegram 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 The Lobster Coast will quickly ascertain. So in this week's Boston Sunday Globe Ideas section, I had this essay on Maine's experience as a colony of a colony, 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.

This is my first byline in the Globe, but in September I spoke to Ideas staff writer David Sharfenberg about the battle for the national "soul" of the U.S., the topic of my most recent book, Union.

Update, 10/30/20: Bloomberg's Boston bureau has a radio show and podcast, Bloomberg Baystate Business, 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.

UNION named a Best Non-fiction Book of 2020 by the Christian Science Monitor

My thanks to the Christian Science Monitor's book reviewers for naming Union: The Struggle to Forge the Story of United States Nationhood as a Best Non-Fiction Book of 2020.

The Monitor's review of the book can be found here. It concludes: "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."

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.

For more on Union, start here.

The 2020 Elections and the American Nations

The American Nations boundaries show up in just about every closely contested election, and the 2020 presidential contest was no exception.

With the help of my Portland Press Herald colleague Chad Gilley, I crunched the election results (as of November 10) via the regional cultures as well as breaking out each of those between rural and urban counties and even between each of the six degrees of urban/rural-ness as defined by the federal government's National Center for Health Insurance Standards.

The results can be found in this week's Maine Sunday Telegram and online here. (There's also a brief sidebar on the paradigm for readers unfamiliar with it.)

By comparison, here's the 2016 version of this exercise.

Speaking about Union and how the U.S. survives via Trinity Wall Street, Nov 12

Before the pandemic struck, I was looking forward to traveling to lower Manhattan this week to speak as part of Trinity Wall Street Church's Trinity Commons series. But things are as they are [gestures vaguely around in all directions] and so we'll be doing this event virtually. The good news is all of you can attend, wherever you are.

The event kicks off November 12 at 6:30 pm and you can register here. It's a conversation format with Trinity's Priest-in-charge and Vicar, the Rev. Phillip A. Jackson.

I'll be talking about the vulnerabilities of the U.S. as a nation, federation, and republic, our struggle to forge a story of shared purpose, and what we need to do to survive going forward. These are, of course, the topics of my new book Union: The Struggle to Forge the Story of United States Nationhood, American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America, and American Character: The Epic Struggle Between Individual Liberty and the Common Good. Together they form a trilogy and, I hope, provide informed paths forward for a beleaguered republic and the "great hope" it has long represented.

So do join us if you can. Stay safe out there and pray, if you do that sort of thing, that better times are ahead for the U.S. and the world.

(An unrelated programing note: if you happen to live in Denmark, I'll be you guest later today (Nov. 7) on Danish national television, talking about our election.)

 

Fareed Zakaria recommends American Nations for today's political moment in the US

Over at the New York Times Book Review today, Fareed Zakaria -- whose ideas about illiberal democracy were very helpful in my thinking through some of the concepts in American Character -- was asked what four books he recommended for this political moment in America. 

Here's his answer:

"Ezra Klein’s “Why We’re Polarized,” which gets at the state of our politics. Colin Woodard’s “American Nations,” which gets at the cultural divides. Samuel Huntington’s “American Politics: The Promise of Disharmony,” because it places the current moment in historical context. And Alexis de Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America,” because it is still the best book ever written about this country."

That's some company to be in. Thanks much, Fareed! 

Talking with CBC-Nova Scotia about the 400-year backstory to the 2020 election

The rest of the world is trying to understand what's going on with the United States and its (currently not quite resolved) election. 

So I very much enjoyed sharing the backstory (via the American Nations - American Character - Union trilogy) with CBC-Nova Scotia this morning for their longform Mainstreet program. It broadcast today, but can also be heard as a podcast here.

Last week I spoke with CBC-New Brunswick  (about Maine's role) and Denmark's Zetland Magasin about the grand American backstory.

Hope you're all getting more sleep than I am. But if you live in the United States, I very much doubt it.

Talking American Nations and the 2020 election with Denmark's Zetland Magasin

The world is watching as the U.S. staggers towards the highest stakes election since the 1870s Tuesday, and some reporters have been drawn to American Nations, American Character, Union and even The Lobster Coast for an explanation as to what is going on. Two stories came out yesterday.

Denmark's Zetland Magasin has this longform feature on American Nations and how it explains what's going on in this country. I enjoyed speaking with editor Jakob Moll and seeing my work rendered in Danish, the language of an eighth of my ancestors. Ny Holland! Det dybe sud! Great stuff.

Friday's Le Monde carried this feature on the disunited States, with a nice name drop (in excellent company) for my latest book, Union: The Struggle to Forge the Story of United States Nationhood. There are some scenes that take place in Paris, so perhaps a few readers there will discover the book.

On Monday, CBC-New Brunswick broadcast their story on Maine's second district, the topic of this post here at World Wide Woodard.

Talking US national identity and Union on America's Public Forum panel Nov 1

This coming Sunday, November 1, I'll be joining a virtual panel to discuss "The Search for a Shared American Narrative," which in its original 19th century guise, is the topic of my latest book, Union: The Struggle to Forge the Story of United States Nationhood. 

Fellow panelists are Damon Linker, columnist at The Week; James White, Chairman of the North Carolina Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commission; and David Blankenhorn, President of Braver Angels, a civic non-profit that seeks to depolarize the country.

The panel, which kicks off at 7pm Eastern, is part of the America's Public Forum series on American national identity in the 21st Century and is convened by the Indiana-based Harrison Center, Sagamore Institute, and Braver Angels, as well as the National Institute for Civil Discourse and moderated by Alexandra Hudson, a scholar in residence at Harrison, an arts-as-development organization in Indianapolis.

It's free and open to the public, but as with most virtual events, you need to pre-register.

Speaking on Union (virtually) in Brunswick, Maine, Oct. 28

Tomorrow, October 28, I'll be speaking on my new book, Union: The Struggle to Forge the Story of United States Nationhood via the Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick, Maine. Owing to the pandemic, this will be a virtual event, but the good news is that that means it's free and open to the public, anywhere and everywhere.

The event kicks off at 7pm and you can find the Zoom link and other details at the library's website here.

Signed books are on sale for this virtual event from co-sponsor Gulf of Maine Books, the intrepid independent bookstore that's been on Maine Street in Brunswick since I was in kindergarten. They're old school, so no website -- kind of the anti-Amazon -- so you purchase books tby emailing the store, gulfofmainebooks@gmail.com, or by calling 207-729-5083. You can even arrange to have me personalize them before pickup/shipment, as I live in the area. (I also can offer this service via Portland's Longfellow Books and Print: a Bookstore, which do have websites, if you need that.)

Also thanks to both GrowSmart Maine and the Maine Public Relations Council, each of which had me as a keynote speaker for their annual meetings last week. Enjoyed e-meeting many of you via the events, and speaking about some of the implications of Maine and New England's histories (via Lobster Coast and American Nations for GrowSmart) and the experience of covering 2020, here and away for the Maine PR Council.

My next public virtual event is being hosted out of Indiana: a Nov. 1panel discussion on the U.S. national identity hosted by the National Institute for Civic Discourse, the Sagamore Institute, and others. 

Talking with Discover Magazine about causes of regional personality differences

Discover Magazine reported on a recent study on the relationship between topography and personality, and reached out to me for my thoughts on the causes of observed differences between the regions. Needless to say, I argued culture -- not topography -- was the more determinative force at work.

Read on to the article by writer Sophie Putka for the details. And for more on Frederick Jackson Turner's dead end, check out Union: The Struggle to Forge the Story of United States Nationhood.

Talking UNION with Heartland Politics

Had an enjoyable conversation last week with Monmouth College political scientist Robin Johnson about the story told in Union: The Struggle to Forge the Story of United States Nationhood for his "Heartland Politics" radio show and podcast. 

The show now airs on WVIK, the NPR affiliate for the Quad Cities on Iowa/Illinois border: Davenport, Moline, Rock Island, and Bettendorf and our conversation can be heard here. 

The Quad Cities are classic Midlands country, in American Nations terms, and even have a cameo in Union, when the historian George Bancroft, former President Millard Filmore and a crowd of dignitaries arrive in Rock Island in 1854 as part of a junket sponsored by the new Chicago and Rock Island Railroad. They meet a non-descript railroad attorney during a Springfield, Ill. whistle stop on their way home and pay him no mind. They guy's name was Abraham Lincoln.

But I digress. Please: enjoy the show. 

I was last on air in Iowa this summer on Iowa Public Radio's River to River and was on Robin's show back when it was still hosted on KBUR just across the Mississippi -- thus the change from "K" to "W" in call letters -- to talk about what American Nations had to say about the state of US politics.

Chicago Magazine, Alabama Political Reporter on American Nations; Jeff Daniels on Union

As the highest-stakes U.S. election since 1860 fast approaches, various news outlets have been using American Nations to explain how things got so bad. Most interesting for me is when they use the book to analyze their own backyards, especially when those places are far from where I live.

Two cases in point over the past 48 hours:

The editor-in-chief of Alabama Political Reporter, Bill Britt, wrote this OpEd about the state of his state, using the observations I made about the Deep Southern social and political legacy. "Today, Alabama’s governance framework and, to a lesser degree, its society is much like the Deep South characteristics Woodard describes," Britt writes. "One Party rule. A dominant religion. A racial caste system. And a willingness to impose regulations on personal behavior while opposing almost every economic restrictions." 

To the north, Chicago Magazine has this feature using American Nations to explain why Illinois -- or at least it's dominant northern tier -- votes like New England. "In Lincoln’s day, New England-settled northern Illinois was the most anti-slavery part of the state," writer Eric McClellan argues. "Today, it’s the reason that Illinois votes more like a coastal state than most of its Midwestern neighbors."

And, separately, Jeff Daniels gave a shout out to my new book, Union: The Struggle to Forge the Story of United States Nationhood in this interview with AV Club. (He previously touted American Nations too.) Thanks, Jeff!

Speaking on UNION via the Boston Athenaeum, Sept. 23

It is my great pleasure to be returning to the Boston Athenaeum on this coming Wednesday, September 23, this time to speak on my new book, Union: The Struggle to Forge the Story of United States Nationhood. Owing to the pandemic, this will be a virtual event this time, but the good news is that that means it's free and open to the public, anywhere and everywhere.

The event starts at 6 pm but you do need to register by Tuesday at 5pm. For more information, consult their page for the event herensult their page for the event here. Note that registration is indeed open now (despite the reference to it "opening shortly"), just click the red "Register" button on the right side of the page.

Books are being sold, online, by the Harvard Book Store, where I was scheduled to have an event this summer, before the pandemic put an end to book tours.

I was recently interviewed in the Boston Globe about the themes in the book, an article you can read here.

I last spoke at the Athenaeum in 2016 on American Character: The Epic Battle Between Individual Liberty and the Common Good.