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.)

 

Talking UNION with Texas Public Radio, Northeast Public Radio

Happy Fourth of July everyone, a day when we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence because, yes, it's our founding document. (The 1789 Constitution was the second take at the operational details of the new federation.)

In sync with the themes of the holiday, I spoke this week with Texas Public Radio's hour-long interview program, "The Source" about how we should tell the story of America and my new book, Union: The Struggle to Forge the Story of United States Nationhood. You can catch that interview with the San Antonio-based public radio network online here.

For a shorter take, I also spoke recently with WAMC / Northeast Public Radio's Joe Donoghue on "The Roundtable." I was happy to rejoin the network -- which serves eastern New York State (north of New Netherland) and the entire western third of New England -- which has had me on for American Nations and American Character as well.

This week I'll be coming to public radio listeners in southeastern Virginia, and central Tennessee.

Hope you enjoy.

Talking UNION with WNYC's "All Of It"

This afternoon I had the pleasure of speaking with Alison Stewart -- late of MTV and CBS News -- about Union: The Struggle to Forge the Story of United States Nationhood on her WNYC program, "All of It." The program, which aired lived on the station -- New York City's NPR affiliate -- is available to listen to here.

Union went on sale in stores across North America last week and I have two virtual events coming up over the next week including one sponsored by Gibson's in Concord, New Hampshire at 6pm on June 6th and with Washington D.C.'s Politics and Prose on June 28, where author and NPR veteran reporter Tom Gjelten will be interviewing me about Union (register here.)

Frederick Douglass and "Allender's Jake": a research note

There are very few people who will be interested in this post, but for the few among you who study Frederick Douglass, a small research discovery.

Jake Ellis -- aka "Allender's Jake", aka William Dixon -- the fugitive slave Douglass encountered on his first day of freedom in New York City, the one who warned him about slave catchers and who was at the center of a years-long legal battle that pulled in underground railroad conductor David Riggles -- was not the property of Dr. Joseph Allender, as Blassimgame et al. suggested in the footnotes to their (excellent) annotated edition of My Bondage, My Freedom.

Period newspaper accounts of Ellis's trip explicitly say Ellis was the property of "Dr. William T. Alexander" of Baltimore. They got the name wrong. This would be William T. Allender (1807-1880), Dr. Alexander's son.

That is all. You may now return to your regularly scheduled programming.

Speaking at the Chautauqua Institution, July 3

On July 3 I have the honor of speaking at the Chautauqua Institution's summer speaker series on the lake in Chautauqua, New York. The event kicks off at 2:30 pm in their Hall of Philosophy.

I'll be talking about the issues raised in American Character: A History of the Epic Struggle Between Individual Liberty and the Common Good, which was a finalist for the 2017 Chautauqua Prize. The morning session just ahead of me is with Jelani Cobb of the New Yorker, so I'm looking forward to that as well.

For those of you attending Chautauqua this season, I look forward to meeting.

Speaking on American Nations and the gun debate, Gloucester, Mass., May 19

I'll be speaking about how the existence of the American Nations helps explain enormous geographic disparities in violence, capital punishment, and gun policies at a public event on Massachusetts' North Shore May 19.

It's the keynote of "Finding Common Ground," a four-hour symposium on gun violence and the application of the Second Amendment organized by the Gloucester Meetinghouse Foundation taking place from 2 to 6pm at the Gloucester Unitarian Universalist Church, and including presentations from Gloucester High School students, the commander of the area American Legion Post, and others. My talk starts at about 4. Donations welcome.

Details on the event can be found here.

I wrote on the disparities of the regional cultures in regards to these issues in this 2013 Tufts Magazine cover story.

My next public talk is July 3 at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York, on the themes raised in American Character, which was a finalist for last year's Chautauqua Prize.

Talking with KERA, WAMC, Signature Reads about American Character

I returned from a whirlwind book tour in the northeastern U.S. earlier this week, which had me pass through nine states and the District of Columbia in three days. Thanks to all who came out to Politics and Prose in D.C., the Greenwich Public Library in Connecticut and the Falmouth Historical Society on Cape Cod; great audiences all.

Literally on the way home, I swung by the Maine Public Broadcasting studios for a live hook-up with Dallas public radio superstation KERA's hour-long "Think" program. That conversation is now available online for streaming.

You can also hear my interview with WAMC / Northeast Public Radio's "Roundtable," an interview show out of Albany that can be heard in parts of seven states via 28 transmitters, which also aired this week.

And for those who prefer the written word, my extensive interview with Signature Reads writer Scott Porch at their website.

Thanks to all three outlets for their interest in American Nations and American Character.

My book tour continues this week with events in Portland, Maine on Mar. 30 and Boston, Massachusetts on Mar. 31.

"New York Values" are New Netherland Values

Ever since presidential hopeful Ted Cruz (R-Deep South) accused his fellow demagogue, Donald Trump of having "New York Values", the internet has plunged into a discussion of what constitutes such values and whether distancing oneself from them will "work" politically for Sen. Cruz. Trump predictably went to the 9/11 response as illustrative of such values; Cruz responded with a denouncement of abortion and gay rights, correctly said to be widely championed in the Big Apple.

It should come as no surprise that I'd argue "New York Values" are centuries old, dating back to the fundamental ethos of tolerance, materialism, and multiculturalism of the New Netherland colony and the Golden Age Amsterdam culture that created it. It's an argument laid out in my book, American Nations, of course, but I haven't had a chance to distill it for insertion the current debate.

Thankfully, Jordan Fraade, a student of urban policy at UCLA, has done it for me. Writing at Al Jazeera America, Fraade lays out the city's culture, correctly recognizing that tolerance is a double edged sword: tolerant of difference, yes, but also of slavery. It's the sort of place that would never vote for Donald Trump, but certainly helped nurture the creation of a morally flexible, highly materialistic real estate baron with global branding ambitions and a relatively liberal stance toward social programs (for "real Americans" as opposed to those dirty "others" on whom the people's problems can be blamed.) He's not a tolerant fellow, to be sure, but in other ways he's recognizably New Netherland-ish. It's hard to imagine him having grown out of Greater Appalachia, even though that's where the core of his support is.

For Ted Cruz, attacking the tolerant, diverse world of New Netherland makes sense: his base isn't much fond of either, nor are the Evangelicals who mysteriously support Trump, who Cruz needs to peel off to win the GOP nomination.

Don Gellers, 60s-era legal champion of Passamaquoddy, has died at 78.

I'm sad to report that Rabbi Tuvia Ben-Shmuel-Yosef -- known to Mainers by his birth name, Don Gellers -- died Wednesday in New York City. He was 78.

He was a central figure in my recent 29-part Portland Press Herald series, "Unsettled", vigorously defending the Passamaquoddy in court at a time when nobody else would, calling national media attention to official handling of the brutal 1968 slaying of tribal member Peter Francis, and filing the first land claims case against Maine (via colonial power Massachusetts).

As the series reveals, he was for his troubles run out of the state and country by a state sponsored conspiracy orchestrated by the Attorney General's office.

I'll be writing a longer story on Ben-Shmuel-Yosef  for next week's Telegram and will say some words about him at the "Unsettled" ebook launch reception Oct. 16.

[Update, 1/10/20: Governor Janet Mills, a former Attorney General and career prosecutor, granted Gellers a full pardon and admonished the state's handling of the case.]

New York, Delaware oppose Maine proposal to weaken smog rules

This summer, I wrote about a proposal by the LePage administration here in Maine to remove the state from key anti-smog rules, a proposal that had almost passed unnoticed on the Department of Environmental Protection's website. The DEP defends the move, saying it will foster industrial investment without adverse effect on the environment. Paper companies, it soon was shown, were major supporters of the measure.

As a result of these reports, the DEP agreed to hold public hearings, while the federal Environmetal Protection Agency -- which must approve the measure -- extended the official comment period by a month. That comment period ended Oct. 3, right in the midst of the shutdown, complicating efforts to determine what stakeholders had to say.

Now the dust has cleared, and in today's Portland Press Herald I have an update based on interviews, a public records request, and the official comments. The headline: that two states are opposing Maine's move, saying it is technically flawed and amounts to bad policy. The DEP defends their position. Details herein.

Why did Maine halt its climate adaptation plan?

In today's Maine Sunday Telegram, I report on how and why the administration of Gov. Paul LePage spiked the creation of the state's climate adaptation strategy, which was intended to coordinate and prioritize responses to changing climate conditions and, thereby, save money. It's a contrast to, say, New York State, which has been rushing to create a plan to protect and strengthen critical infrastructure against events like Hurricane Sandy, which are predicted (and observed) to be more frequent.

You can read the details in the piece, and what some national experts think of the state's explanation for their policy shift. Some interesting items for Maine policy wonks as well, including environmental protection commissioner Patricia Aho's position that her department should no longer be the lead agency on climate adaptation, and that the original plan can't go forward because Gov. LePage has eliminated some of the agencies that were to have executed it.

Speaking on American Nations in Plattsburgh, NY, Oct. 16

For those in the greater Plattsburgh, New York area, I'll be discussing American Nations at the State University of New York - Plattsburgh tomorrow evening, October 16th, at 7:30.

This is part of the Karl Cron Lecture Series hosted by the university's Protestant Campus Ministry Student Association and  is held at the Alumni Conference Room.

The lecture is free and  open to the public.

For more information, their press release says to contact chaplain Ana Rivera-Georgescu at Arive013@plattsburgh.edu. or the student association president Alexander Malsan at alex@berk.com

American Nations, Portland, and the Superbowl

LiveWork Portland, a blog here in Maine, interviewed me this week about the topic that's on everyone's minds: the cultural differences between Patriots and Giants fans. (And whether Portland is really a Yankee city or not.)

LiveWork isn't the only media outlet interested in this topic. Earlier this week, AdAge carried this story on the stark differences in brand preferences, music, and the like between fans of the two football teams, one from New Netherland, the other from Yankeedom. I don't know if there are any clear conclusions to be drawn from this about these respective regional cultures, but it is certainly a reminder that mass consumer culture is far from homogenous.

For more in regards to Portland (and Maine's) cultural identity, I heartily recommend one of my previous books, The Lobster Coast: Rebels, Rusticators, and the Struggle for a Forgotten Frontier.

American Nations on WAMC, in Slate

From the Department of American Nations Promotion:

I was a guest this morning on Northeast Public Radio / WAMC's "Roundtable" program, which is broadcast across a great swath of upstate New York, plus western Massachusetts, Connecticut and Vermont. You can hear this latest American Nations interview online.

Meanwhile, my Washington Monthly feature describing why the Tea Party is doomed to failure over a great swath of the United States has been receiving a bit of attention and commentary, including this plug from Slate, another from Free Flight New Media, and this posting at Daily Kos.

Finally, last week Blogcritics.org ran this review of the book by the elusive Marty Dodge.

CBC / PRI Interview: Border Patrol's Internal Checkpoints

I was interviewed yesterday about Border Patrol story by CBC's As It Happens program, which is nationally syndicated in the U.S. by Public Radio International. You can hear the interview here - it's the first story in this second clip.

Like many of us, CBC Toronto was unaware that Border Patrol has been stopping people traveling domestically at checkpoints far from the northern border, although the practice has been quietly been going on for years. My story in this week's Chronicle of Higher Education revealed that foreign students and scholars have been getting caught up by these roving patrols and surprise checkpoints, sometimes within a few miles of campus. Some are being detained even though their documentation is in order, apparently because Border Patrol agents do not understand some of the subtleties of certain visa and change of status rules. (There are some additional accounts in the extensive comments thread accompanying the article.)

Customs and Border Patrol failed to respond to my questions about the issue, but it is my hope they will be more responsive going forward.

Border Patrol's "internal checkpoints" snare foreign students, scholars

I've been increasingly interested in U.S. Customs and Border Patrol's expanded use of so-called "internal checkpoints" and roving patrols along -- but up to a hundred miles south of -- the Canadian border. Despite the Fourth Amendment, Border Patrol stops and questions people engaged in purely domestic travel at highway stops, bus stations, or aboard moving trains far from the actual border. The agency maintains that current case law theoretically endorses such stops within 100 air miles of the border or ocean, a definition that includes most of the major cities in the United States, and the entirety of the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Michigan, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Florida, and Hawaii.

As I report in this week's edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education, this is creating a climate of fear among international students and scholars at some higher education institutions lying within this expanded border zone because Border Patrol is reportedly refusing to recognize certain categories of legitimate immigration documents, resulting in the detention of people here entirely legally.

I was disappointed that Customs and Border Patrol failed to agree to my interview requests or to answer written questions about this issue over several weeks. Hopefully they will be more forthcoming going forward, as it would be interesting to understand how they see the issue and regulations.

[Update, 1/14/2011: I was interviewed about this story by CBC's As It Happens, a program syndicated in the U.S. by Public Radio International.]