Jim Cullen Journalist Profile

Articles

Seeking Intellectual Membership with the Living and the Dead

1 month ago | nadyawilliams.substack.com | Nadya Williams |Jim Cullen |Robert Erle Barham

I remember the day I first read the opening lines of Vergil’s Aeneid in Latin. I was in 11th grade, and this was the first Latin poetry I got to read on my own, assigned as homework following intense preparations for this moment in class. In Latin (and in Ancient Greek), words in the sentence do not go in a designated order, the way they do in modern English. Instead, the endings of each noun and adjective tell of its role in the sentence (Subject? Direct object? Indirect object?
Receding Waves

Sep 20, 2024 | currentpub.com | Jim Cullen

The demise of radio broadcasting reveals big and unpredictable shifts MTV made its debut on August 1, 1981 by making an audacious statement: Its inaugural music video was the Buggles song “Video Killed the Radio Star.” “In my mind and in my car / We can’t rewind we’ve gone too far,” songwriter Trevor Horn sang mournfully. “Pictures came and broke your heart / Put the blame on VCR.” I routinely show the video in my course on the politics and culture of the late American empire.
FORUM: Fiftieth Anniversary of Nixon’s Resignation, Day Three

Aug 7, 2024 | currentpub.com | Daniel Silliman |Jim Cullen |Rusty Hawkins

Does Watergate still matter? Fifty years ago this week, President Nixon resigned the presidency in a cloud of scandal. What does this anniversary mean today? We asked nine thinkers—historians, political theorists, and journalists—to respond to this question. Today’s reflections conclude our forum. ***The tragedy of Nixon’s resignationDaniel SillimanRichard Nixon’s resignation was not an act of repentance. It could have been. But it wasn’t.
REVIEW: The Iconoclast

Jul 25, 2024 | currentpub.com | Jim Cullen

Jackson Lears’s lifelong quarrel with the meritocracy that produced himConjurers, Cranks, Provincials, and Antediluvians: The Off-Modern in American History by Jackson Lears, edited by Charlie Riggs. Yale University Press, 2024. 504 pp., $35.00This book is a revealing document of the historical profession as it’s played out at the elite level. Jackson Lears is an academic aristocrat with degrees from the University of Virginia, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and Yale.
Three Strikes Against Harris: Geography, Identity, Skill

Jul 24, 2024 | currentpub.com | Jim Cullen

Why is majoritarian appeal so tough to come by for Democrats and Republicans alike? In the immediate aftermath of Joe Bidenâ€™s withdrawal from the presidential race, the Democratic Party elite has coalesced around Kamala Harris. Itâ€™s not hard to understand why. If the presidential race is about mobilizing oneâ€™s baseâ€”which has become the conventional wisdom of U.S. elections in this centuryâ€”Harris is in a position to win and stabilize the Democrats as the nationâ€™s governing party.
#ISBF9 - Let's Do This — ISBF9

Jul 23, 2024 | salfordbeerfest.com | Jim Cullen

A little breakdown of the Sessions….. Thursday - Low Key (Much smaller session) - All beers are on so there’s a GUARANTEE that those in on Thursday evening will have the run of ALL the Beers & Ciders (#First ChanceThursday) Oh….And 25% of the tickets have already gone to Sponsors (not to mention those bought earlier tonight at the Ticket Launch Bash!) #DontMissOutFriday Lunch - Again, Low Key (same numbers as Thursday) - All beers should be available (as they should until Saturday Lunch really).
Conventional Wisdom

Jul 12, 2024 | currentpub.com | Jim Cullen

Contested nominations have been the norm, not the exception, in American historyIn the summer of 1924 the Democratic National Convention was held at New York Cityâ€™s Madison Square Garden. The frontrunner for the nomination was William Gibbs McAdoo, the former Treasury Secretary and son-in-law of President Woodrow Wilson, and a prominent Progressive reformer.
Loyalty, Not Merit; Confidence, Not Data

Jun 10, 2024 | currentpub.com | Jim Cullen

The fight for common sense in everyday life, after social scienceThe western bourgeois notion of respectable opinion was invented 200 years ago by the French intellectual Auguste Comte (1798-1857). Among other things, Comte is the founding father of sociology. His key contribution to modern thought is the philosophical concept of positivism: a method in which the truth of any idea can be measured by formulating a statement by which it could beâ€”but isnâ€™tâ€”shown to be demonstrably false.
Nobody Said It Was Easy — ISBF8

May 9, 2024 | salfordbeerfest.com | Jim Cullen

There are plenty of other beer events for your money. ISBF is but a speck in comparison. But it's our speck. A speck with heart. A speck with soul. A speck with a purpose. To do good. Help people. It's always been the point. From helping St Sebastian's Community Centre help their community, to helping Start Inspiring Minds do their vital work in the Community of Salford. This has never been a beer event. It's been a people event. As the mighty Tim put it recently, this is a Grassroots event.
Ties of Sentiment

May 8, 2024 | feeds.feedblitz.com | Jim Cullen

Notes on a receding shirt lineI didn’t set out to be a tie guy. Actually (unlike prep school students or college fraternity members), I never really wore one until I got my first job out of college at a publishing house, where I had few to go with the two cheap suits I owned. Then I went to graduate school, where I was employed part-time as a teaching fellow.