I think writing at the Times would open up a can of worms for HCR. I am just guessing, but I think she may like her life just as it is. A great teaching job with time to write brilliant books. And this gig which makes her a small fortune. All of that balanced out with a life in what I think is the most beautiful part of the country.
I think she could blow the doors off at the Times. But maybe she doesn't want the distraction from a well designed life with her new husband. Again, I am just guessing.
Bill, I think you are right, much as I long to see HCR's Letters more widely read. Also, Heather is a (brilliant) historian, not a journalist and I believe that journalists probably want to protect "their turf". Nevertheless, I wish more people could take advantage of the honesty and clarity of her work.
However, the other day I was listening to something, I forget what but it may have been CNN, and I heard the words "as Heather Cox Richardson said..." !
More people need to benefit from her writing. She doesn't need to be a journalist. This piece deserves to be widely circulated. "Turf" doesn't matter. The truth will serve us all.
More than a year ago I sent HCR to my sister . Walked her through how to subscribe she in turn copies the letters to give to a friend in Assisted care who on turn shares it with her friends.
We saw how quickly COVID spread. So can ideas whose time has come. So too (obviously) can very ugly misinformation, and any fool can tear things down; so it helps to help the "better angels of our nature" to build a better world,
And I think paying and drawing attention to more big-picture observations of any sort. TV and "Tweets", intentionally or not are a sort of modern "Newspeak"; they tend to filter out long-chains of understanding.
Evolution is long chain, how the variations in the beaks of finches imply a developmental process. How the autocratic abuses by Britain's monarchy and "Star Chamber" influenced America's official concepts of criminal justice. How data shows that economic inequality in America worsens because of Reaganomics, not in spite of it. We need to attend to the forest AND the trees, and wisely sense which objects of attention matter most. That often requires exploration of the road less traveled by, and/or a periodic pause to stop and look around. To "question everything".
I know that Heather is read by a wide range of journalists (and many politicians), though maybe not the extreme right wing. Not unexpected, so nothing to waste time moaning about. That she and other historians are now routinely being included in the analysis of current affairs is a welcome change, one that benefits our understanding all around. Hooray for historians, and for journalists whose grasp of the back story improves their coverage.
I hoped in vain for someone with the visibility to press it to ask Reagan to point to a society in which "Reaganomics" was truly delivering what he promised, and then to prove it had. When and where was societal domination by the wealthiest a beneficial "square deal"for the many? I wanted someone to ask TFG and other loquacious MAGA Republicans when it was that America was "great", and why? Also, when and why it wasn't, what precisely were the tangible the steps that would restore greatness, and for him or them to show their work.
Roy Moore ventured that America was at its best in the American South before the Civil War, but for all the slavery of course. It did not play well.
I sometimes catch Brian Tyler Cohn on YouTube and he recently quoted her. I find his takes, besides that of Beau of the Fifth Column" to be worth hunting down.
I post Heather's letter and Snyder's essays as well to Facebook. I see some people reposting her letter, so at least a circle of people who are friends see it.
Bill, I would not suggest that she "change her life" and work for the Times. I do believe this article should be a widely distributed OP ED. Coastal Maine is wonderful. We were there in the fall.
That was our life for about 15 years. We ran a summer seasonal business on the coast of Maine and wintered in the Caribbean and Florida. It was wonderful while it lasted.
Now as we prepare to return to Florida for the annual visit to family, I admit to a certain nervousness. The politics and some of the people are frightening.
If it were her desire to be more widely read, I think she would be a national force for understanding. Nobody can pull the news together with historical perspective the way Heather can. Plus lately, she has found a talent for terrific ironies and a "concluding comment" that is wicked powerful.
Wouldn't it be epic if she wanted to "teach" on a grander scale?
I just don't know if she would want the attention and the pressure of such a large platform. Whatever works best for her life. Guess I feel protective :)
As the powerful vehicle it has become from such small roots maybe she has all the exposure she needs. Who knew back in those early days how widely her writing would spread. Or that after the election when she planned to stop her LFAA became even more important.
My introduction to HRC came some years ago with a historical opinion piece on the Bloomberg site. My awareness of this blog was made possible by a HRC opinion piece in the Guardian, so there is that. I don't know how she does it all anyway, but I would like to see some of the historical (well past and contemporary) vignettes reprinted more widely.
At least in one sense history=learning=history. Not always social/political history, as even the ability to read is the culmination of retaining a great many successive lessons (I can still remember "Spot can run. Run, Spot run." or something very similar). Human history is sometimes described as a spiral rather than a cycle (here is a particularly meaningful spiral illustration visualized as "3-D" (a cycle + time) https://climate.nasa.gov/climate_resources/300/video-climate-spiral/
Navigating reality relying on misinformation can be roughly like flying a plane though a fog, depending upon significantly inaccurate navigational aids. Lacking reasonably accurate foresight, realities, like a mountainside, could suddenly smack you in the face.
Two (Opps, three) things will always stick in my brain, somewhat akin to your Spot analogy. In the Democracy vs. Republic schtick, “…a Labrador is still a dog…”. In the understanding of the Reagan years, via Little House on the Prairie and the Phylis Schlaflys of the day, puffy dresses, “… Pa was an idiot who always had to be rescued by the women…”, and “Infrastructure, a social basic safety net, regulation of business.” I discovered HCR’s podcasts at the beginning of Covid. I was there every Tuesday and Thursday, plus the Letters. Kept me sane, to say nothing about what connection to community, in the midst of isolation, accomplished.
I don’t think Prof. Richardson should or would want that type of exposure. She is a well-respected author. Teaching American history is her passion. We follow her writings and learn so much. We have the ability to pass along to others what she so capably, thoughtfully, straight-forward and factually
I don’t think Prof. Richardson should or would want that type of exposure. She is a well-respected author. Teaching American history is her passion. We follow her writings and learn so much. We have the ability to pass along to others what she so capably, thoughtfully, straight-forward and factually
HCR posts her letters daily on Facebook—ostensibly the social media platform with the highest visibility. Some of her FB letters get up to 50k likes and thousands of comments, and are shared numerous times. Unfortunately, I believe most of the people this information should reach will not take the time to read a letter; they’re better predisposed to take in short visual news segments or memes.
From another Georgia girl, I believe Dr. Richardson’s ability to make her own points and draw her own conclusions is on a far stronger footing here than at a major daily with an editorial board, especially one with a brand to protect.
I do frequently post her letter on my own FB page, to the appreciation of 4 or 5 of my friends. Some of my friends have subscribed to LFAA. And now and then I forward mine to a couple of "die-hard" MSM friends, choosing carefully which letters I forward.
Why doesn’t HCR post in the Times? The more that read her the Better.
I think writing at the Times would open up a can of worms for HCR. I am just guessing, but I think she may like her life just as it is. A great teaching job with time to write brilliant books. And this gig which makes her a small fortune. All of that balanced out with a life in what I think is the most beautiful part of the country.
I think she could blow the doors off at the Times. But maybe she doesn't want the distraction from a well designed life with her new husband. Again, I am just guessing.
Bill, I think you are right, much as I long to see HCR's Letters more widely read. Also, Heather is a (brilliant) historian, not a journalist and I believe that journalists probably want to protect "their turf". Nevertheless, I wish more people could take advantage of the honesty and clarity of her work.
However, the other day I was listening to something, I forget what but it may have been CNN, and I heard the words "as Heather Cox Richardson said..." !
More people need to benefit from her writing. She doesn't need to be a journalist. This piece deserves to be widely circulated. "Turf" doesn't matter. The truth will serve us all.
More than a year ago I sent HCR to my sister . Walked her through how to subscribe she in turn copies the letters to give to a friend in Assisted care who on turn shares it with her friends.
We saw how quickly COVID spread. So can ideas whose time has come. So too (obviously) can very ugly misinformation, and any fool can tear things down; so it helps to help the "better angels of our nature" to build a better world,
Just reposted to Facebook. Let's get it out there people!
And I think paying and drawing attention to more big-picture observations of any sort. TV and "Tweets", intentionally or not are a sort of modern "Newspeak"; they tend to filter out long-chains of understanding.
Evolution is long chain, how the variations in the beaks of finches imply a developmental process. How the autocratic abuses by Britain's monarchy and "Star Chamber" influenced America's official concepts of criminal justice. How data shows that economic inequality in America worsens because of Reaganomics, not in spite of it. We need to attend to the forest AND the trees, and wisely sense which objects of attention matter most. That often requires exploration of the road less traveled by, and/or a periodic pause to stop and look around. To "question everything".
I agree! I was not suggesting that she should be a journalist, nor that journalists should protect their turf. It was an observation.
I know that Heather is read by a wide range of journalists (and many politicians), though maybe not the extreme right wing. Not unexpected, so nothing to waste time moaning about. That she and other historians are now routinely being included in the analysis of current affairs is a welcome change, one that benefits our understanding all around. Hooray for historians, and for journalists whose grasp of the back story improves their coverage.
I hoped in vain for someone with the visibility to press it to ask Reagan to point to a society in which "Reaganomics" was truly delivering what he promised, and then to prove it had. When and where was societal domination by the wealthiest a beneficial "square deal"for the many? I wanted someone to ask TFG and other loquacious MAGA Republicans when it was that America was "great", and why? Also, when and why it wasn't, what precisely were the tangible the steps that would restore greatness, and for him or them to show their work.
Roy Moore ventured that America was at its best in the American South before the Civil War, but for all the slavery of course. It did not play well.
I sometimes catch Brian Tyler Cohn on YouTube and he recently quoted her. I find his takes, besides that of Beau of the Fifth Column" to be worth hunting down.
I post Heather's letter and Snyder's essays as well to Facebook. I see some people reposting her letter, so at least a circle of people who are friends see it.
Bill, I would not suggest that she "change her life" and work for the Times. I do believe this article should be a widely distributed OP ED. Coastal Maine is wonderful. We were there in the fall.
So true. As to Maine I would like to be one of the fortunate who can summer in Maine and winter in the low country or Florida.
That was our life for about 15 years. We ran a summer seasonal business on the coast of Maine and wintered in the Caribbean and Florida. It was wonderful while it lasted.
Now as we prepare to return to Florida for the annual visit to family, I admit to a certain nervousness. The politics and some of the people are frightening.
Not only the people, but the weather. We had thought about retirement in FL, but because of both have changed our minds. MD is working for me.
Got it :)
Not knowing the newspaper business as more than a consumer I wonder if she couldn’t be syndicated.
If it were her desire to be more widely read, I think she would be a national force for understanding. Nobody can pull the news together with historical perspective the way Heather can. Plus lately, she has found a talent for terrific ironies and a "concluding comment" that is wicked powerful.
Wouldn't it be epic if she wanted to "teach" on a grander scale?
I just don't know if she would want the attention and the pressure of such a large platform. Whatever works best for her life. Guess I feel protective :)
As the powerful vehicle it has become from such small roots maybe she has all the exposure she needs. Who knew back in those early days how widely her writing would spread. Or that after the election when she planned to stop her LFAA became even more important.
Agree, but wouldn't it be nice to see her as a guest on MSNBC? I often see Joanne Freeman there.....Heather would be a nice addition too.
Monthly Fireside Chats with Biden would be fantastic for the country.
My introduction to HRC came some years ago with a historical opinion piece on the Bloomberg site. My awareness of this blog was made possible by a HRC opinion piece in the Guardian, so there is that. I don't know how she does it all anyway, but I would like to see some of the historical (well past and contemporary) vignettes reprinted more widely.
At least in one sense history=learning=history. Not always social/political history, as even the ability to read is the culmination of retaining a great many successive lessons (I can still remember "Spot can run. Run, Spot run." or something very similar). Human history is sometimes described as a spiral rather than a cycle (here is a particularly meaningful spiral illustration visualized as "3-D" (a cycle + time) https://climate.nasa.gov/climate_resources/300/video-climate-spiral/
Navigating reality relying on misinformation can be roughly like flying a plane though a fog, depending upon significantly inaccurate navigational aids. Lacking reasonably accurate foresight, realities, like a mountainside, could suddenly smack you in the face.
Two (Opps, three) things will always stick in my brain, somewhat akin to your Spot analogy. In the Democracy vs. Republic schtick, “…a Labrador is still a dog…”. In the understanding of the Reagan years, via Little House on the Prairie and the Phylis Schlaflys of the day, puffy dresses, “… Pa was an idiot who always had to be rescued by the women…”, and “Infrastructure, a social basic safety net, regulation of business.” I discovered HCR’s podcasts at the beginning of Covid. I was there every Tuesday and Thursday, plus the Letters. Kept me sane, to say nothing about what connection to community, in the midst of isolation, accomplished.
I don’t think Prof. Richardson should or would want that type of exposure. She is a well-respected author. Teaching American history is her passion. We follow her writings and learn so much. We have the ability to pass along to others what she so capably, thoughtfully, straight-forward and factually
presents.
I don’t think Prof. Richardson should or would want that type of exposure. She is a well-respected author. Teaching American history is her passion. We follow her writings and learn so much. We have the ability to pass along to others what she so capably, thoughtfully, straight-forward and factually
presents.
HCR posts her letters daily on Facebook—ostensibly the social media platform with the highest visibility. Some of her FB letters get up to 50k likes and thousands of comments, and are shared numerous times. Unfortunately, I believe most of the people this information should reach will not take the time to read a letter; they’re better predisposed to take in short visual news segments or memes.
https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson?mibextid=LQQJ4d
Yes, my elderly father can watch Fox for hours, but her newsletter was "too long".
Agree. This should be an Op Ed printed and distributed widely.
From another Georgia girl, I believe Dr. Richardson’s ability to make her own points and draw her own conclusions is on a far stronger footing here than at a major daily with an editorial board, especially one with a brand to protect.
Many have mentioned that her readers should post her letter on their social media and to newspapers.
I do frequently post her letter on my own FB page, to the appreciation of 4 or 5 of my friends. Some of my friends have subscribed to LFAA. And now and then I forward mine to a couple of "die-hard" MSM friends, choosing carefully which letters I forward.