Mary C. Curtis

Charlotte

Host at Equal Time with Mary C. Curtis

CQ @RollCall columnist and 'Equal Time' podcast host. Contribute @NPR @TheOpEdProject @Harvard @niemanfdn Follower of politics, theater and political theater.

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Articles

Have American citizens finally started paying attention?

2 weeks ago | rollcall.com | Mary C. Curtis

I’m not optimistic enough to call it the death of indifference, but recent events prove there may be signs of life in the democratic republic Americans call exceptional but too often take for granted. Last weekend’s “Hands Off!” rallies have come and gone.
How a post-World War II ‘Red Scare’ resonates in modern America

2 weeks ago | rollcall.com | Mary C. Curtis

Skip to content How a post-World War II ‘Red Scare’ resonates in modern America Fights over how American history is taught. Labels of “communist” and “socialist” used to smear. Civil rights gains seen as a loss for the “real” America. While all that might sound like last week’s headlines, those battles and the hysteria surrounding them are nothing new.
The shrinking of American culture can only lead to groupthink and frustration

4 weeks ago | rollcall.com | Mary C. Curtis

So much of the American character is in peril, including the cultural touchstones I often reference, probably more often than my column editors would like. But I believe most Americans’ lives are enriched by the TV shows and music, theater and films that make skeptics and even hate-watchers tune in for the Academy Awards or Super Bowl halftime show. I long ago embraced the fact that the arts (high and low) bring joy, knowledge and — often, just in time — an escape.
Welcome to a real-life Twilight Zone

1 month ago | rollcall.com | Mary C. Curtis

In a well-known episode of “The Twilight Zone,” “It’s a Good Life,” life isn’t at all good for those who dare anger 6-year-old Anthony, who has the power to punish those who would contradict his wishes, no matter how nonsensical or cruel. Show creator Rod Serling, in his still chilling introduction, called Anthony Fremont a “monster,” albeit one “with a cute, little boy face and blue guileless eyes.
Has the fringe gone mainstream?

2 months ago | rollcall.com | Mary C. Curtis

Skip to content Has the fringe gone mainstream? In 2025, you don’t have to reach very far to reach those dark corners of the internet where fringe conspiracy theories and racist memes once hid.
The ‘lost boys’ of Trump and Musk shrink next to real patriots

2 months ago | rollcall.com | Mary C. Curtis

When, after his stellar World War II service, Harry Stewart Jr. applied for a job as a Pan Am pilot, he was clearly overqualified. The Tuskegee Airman had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his heroic actions, which included, on one mission, downing three German fighter planes, one after the other. His four-man team earned a “top gun” first-place trophy in a competition that Tom Cruise could only make movies about.
King never gave up his righteous fight, an example for all to follow

Jan 22, 2025 | maryccurtis.com | Mary C. Curtis

On Jan. 20, 2025, when Donald Trump took the oath of office as the 47th president of the United States, he was overshadowed by the memory of a man and a movement that shaped our country’s history and changed the world. In Washington, D.C., there stands a granite statue of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose federal holiday this year, on the third Monday in January, coincided with Inauguration Day.
King never gave up his righteous fight, an example for all to follow

Jan 20, 2025 | rollcall.com | Mary C. Curtis

On Jan. 20, 2025, when Donald Trump took the oath of office as the 47th president of the United States, he was overshadowed by the memory of a man and a movement that shaped our country’s history and changed the world. In Washington, D.C., there stands a granite statue of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose federal holiday this year, on the third Monday in January, coincided with Inauguration Day.
When the will of the voters meets a political power grab

Jan 16, 2025 | maryccurtis.com | Mary C. Curtis

Some people just won’t take no for an answer. Put in that category the Republican candidate for a seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court. Jefferson Griffin lost that race to incumbent Democratic Justice Allison Riggs by just 734 votes out of more than 5.5 million cast, which has to hurt. Ask Democrat Cheri Beasley, who in 2020 lost her North Carolina chief justice race to Republican Paul Newby by about 400 votes from almost 5.4 million ballots cast.
When the will of the voters meets a political power grab

Jan 16, 2025 | rollcall.com | Mary C. Curtis

Some people just won’t take no for an answer. Put in that category the Republican candidate for a seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court. Jefferson Griffin lost that race to incumbent Democratic Justice Allison Riggs by just 734 votes out of more than 5.5 million cast, which has to hurt. Ask Democrat Cheri Beasley, who in 2020 lost her North Carolina chief justice race to Republican Paul Newby by about 400 votes from almost 5.4 million ballots cast.