The Day(s) The Music Died

If you’ve been hanging out in English-speaking corners of the internet, you are doubtless aware that April 23, 2016 is the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death. (In one of those weird little coincidences that historians and poets love, he may well have been born on the same date 52 years earlier since he was…

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From the Archives: You Can’t Vote Because…..

From sixth century Athens on, who has the vote and why has been a touchy and evolving subject in democracies. People who already have the vote have hesitated to extend it to others for two basic reasons. Those with the vote don’t think those without the vote have the capacity to make good choices. Those…

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America Dancing

I am at least as passionate about danceas I am about books and history–happy to be either participant or observer.* As a child, I worked hard on my turnout and devoured every book about the history of dance that came my way. Just ask me about Fanny Gessler, Maria Tallchief, or Isadora Duncan–all heroines of…

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