Ill Literacy, Episode 180: An Abundance of Caution (Guest: David Zweig)
In Episode 180 of Ill Literacy, Tim Benson talks with David Zweig, author ofAn Abundance of Caution: American Schools, the Virus, and a Story of Bad Decisions. Heartland’s Tim Benson is joined by David Zweig to discuss his latest book, An Abundance of Caution: American Schools, the Virus, and a Story of Bad Decisions. They chat about how everyone from journalists to eminent health officials repeatedly made fundamental errors in their assessment and presentation of evidence regarding COVID and the closing of American schools, and how there was never any evidence that long-term school closures, nor a host of interventions imposed on students when they were in classrooms, would reduce overall cases or deaths in any meaningful way. Get the book here: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262549158/an-abundance-of-caution/ Show Notes: The Atlantic: David Zweig – “The Disaster of School Closures Should Have Been Foreseen” City Journal: James B. Meigs – “What Were We Thinking?” Commentary: Noam Blum – “School’s Out Forever” The Dispatch: Kevin D. Williamson – “The Wrong Kind of Abundance” Education Next: Frederick Hess – “The Junk Science of Pandemic School Closure” The Free Press: David Zweig – “How Covid Lies Destroyed Kids’ Lives” The Wall Street Journal: Philip Wallach – “‘An Abundance of Caution’ and ‘In Covid’s Wake’: Failing the Pandemic Test” Washington Examiner: Jesse Adams – “David Zweig proves the fog of war is no excuse for the damage done to children’s education in the name of public health” The 74: Greg Toppo – “Journalist David Zweig Calls COVID School Closures ‘A False Story About Medical Consensus’”
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Ill Literacy, Episode 179: Out of the Darkness (Guest: Frank Trentmann)
Heartland’s Tim Benson is joined by Frank Trentmann, professor of history at Birkbeck, University of London, to discuss his latest book, Out of the Darkness: The Germans, 1942–2022. They chat about how a nation whose past has been marked by mass murder, a people who cheered Adolf Hitler, reinvented themselves, and by how much. Get the book here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/554959/out-of-the-darkness-by-frank-trentmann/Show Notes:Literary Review: David Blackbourn – “A Mercedes in Every Garage”https://literaryreview.co.uk/a-mercedes-in-every-garageNew York Review of Books: Timothy Garton Ash – “Big Germany, What Now?”https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2024/05/23/big-germany-what-now-timothy-garton-ash/The New Statesman: Brendan Simms – “What it means to be German”https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2023/12/meaning-modern-germany-brenadan-simmsThe Times: Oliver Moody – “Out of the Darkness by Frank Trentmann review — how Germans became good (and rather complacent)”https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/out-of-the-darkness-by-frank-trentmann-review-9rc5n8kbd?region=globalTimes Literary Supplement: Ben Hutchinson – “New moral order”https://www.the-tls.co.uk/history/twentieth-century-onwards-history/after-the-nazis-michael-h-kater-out-of-the-darkness-frank-trentmann-book-review-ben-hutchinsonThe Wall Street Journal: Ian Brunskill – “‘Out of the Darkness’ Review: War Crimes and Remembrance”https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/books/out-of-the-darkness-review-war-crimes-and-remembrance-0b830556The Washington Post: Bryn Stole – “An ambitious history of Germany interrogates the country’s moral makeover”https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/04/18/out-darkness-germans-nazis-legacy-frank-trentmann-review/
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Ascent to Power: How Truman Emerged from Roosevelt's Shadow and Remade the World (Guest: David L. Roll)
Heartland’s Tim Benson is joined by David L. Roll, founder of the Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation, to discuss his latest book, Ascent to Power: How Truman Emerged from Roosevelt's Shadow and Remade the World. They chat about Truman’s struggles to emerge as president in his own right after his accidental ascension to the office and how Truman’s decisions during these pivotal years changed the course of the world in ways so significant we live with them today.Get the book here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/690665/ascent-to-power-by-david-l-roll/Show Notes:Foreign Affairs: Jessica T. Mathews – “Review: ‘Ascent to Power: How Truman Emerged From Roosevelt’s Shadow and Remade the World’”https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/ascent-power-how-truman-emerged-roosevelts-shadow-and-remade-worldWall Street Journal: Robert W. Merry – “’Ascent to Power’ Review: Harry Truman’s Moment”https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/books/ascent-to-power-review-harry-trumans-moment-e5654cb0
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Brought Forth on This Continent: Abraham Lincoln and American Immigration (Guest: Harold Holzer)
Heartland’s Tim Benson is joined by Harold Holzer, director of the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College, to discuss his latest book, Brought Forth on This Continent: Abraham Lincoln and American Immigration. They chat about the immigration situation in the United States in the 30 years leading up the Civil War, how immigrants forever altered the country’s demographics, culture, and voting patterns, how tensions over immigration broke apart the Whig Party and lead to the formation of the Republican Party, and how Lincoln evolved into a champion for immigration. Get the book here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/558372/brought-forth-on-this-continent-by-harold-holzer/
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Kent State: An American Tragedy (Guest: Brian VanDeMark)
Heartland’s Tim Benson is joined by Brian VanDeMark, professor of history at the United States Naval Academy, to discuss his latest book, Kent State: An American Tragedy. They chat about the context of the divided cultural landscape of America during the Vietnam War and heightened popular anxieties around the country, how the shootings came to take place, the reductive narratives that ensued, the victims of the shooting, and the impact of that day on the Guardsmen who were there. Get the book here: https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324066255Show Notes:Los Angeles Review of Books: Tom Zoellner – “Yelling ‘Fire’ on a Crowded Knoll”https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/yelling-fire-on-a-crowded-knoll/Los Angeles Times: Chris Vognar – “A meticulous, pain-filled history of the senseless slaughter at Kent State”https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-08-05/brian-vandemark-kent-state-an-american-tragedyNational Review: Paul Baumann – “What Happened at Kent State?”https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2024/10/what-happened-at-kent-state/Times Literary Supplement: John McMillian – “Civil unrest”https://www.the-tls.co.uk/regular-features/in-brief/kent-state-brian-vandemark-book-review-john-mcmillian
South Africa