HOTCUS 2013

Has it really been that long since the last post? It appears it has. Regardless, new year, new regime. Things are no less busy, but hopefully I’ll find time to post more over the coming year.

Once again I’ll be giving a paper at the Historians of the Twentieth Century United States Conference. This time it takes place at the University of Northumbria in Newcastle. Last year, my paper was focussed on a very tight time period. This year, I’ve chosen to go a little bit broader and also address some of the wider themes of my doctoral thesis. Full paper outline after the jump.

Jimmy Carter And The Psychics

Admittedly, a somewhat over-dramatised title for a post that is about a couple of paragraphs in a single government document, but there you go.

While ploughing through the many thousands of documents that I collected during my recent research trip to the U.S., I came across a rather odd report to the President. Each day, National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski would send a ‘Daily Report’ to President Jimmy Carter. This report would outline in brief salient matters of national security interest. In this case, the report for March 31, 1979, gave comment on the visit of Soviet statesman Alexei Kosygin to India, the situation in the Yemen and Iran, developments if Soviet Afghanistan policy, and…remote viewing and psychokinesis.

Life Magazine: Ghosts of Nevada

Very quick post to highlight this eerie and unsettling collection of photographs from Life magazine. They were taken shortly after a 1955 atomic test in Nevada. Well worth checking out.

Confronting the Conspiratorial II: Return of the Conspirator!

These research trips do not half reduce the time available for pithy, insightful commentary of a blogular nature. Hopefully once I get back to the UK next week, things should get back to the usual weekly schedule.

By way of saying something, rather than nothing, I was forwarded a rather bizarre link by my friend John Anderson (paramedic and international relations bod – now there’s a combination for you.) The link in question is to a forum/website that puts forward one of the nuttiest conspiracy theories I’ve yet come across (something that I’ve discussed before.) Given that most of said theories are pretty nutty, you have to be really reaching to raise more than a quizzical eyebrow. This one, however, really raises the bar: nuclear weapons are a con. A fake. A big lie. Huh?

I’m in two minds whether or not this is actually a genuine belief held by at least some of the people posting on the forum or it is all part of a knowing jab at conspiracy theory in general. Like all such things, you have to wonder. I think invoking a variation of Poe’s law would be appropriate here: “Without a winking smiley or some other blatant display of humour, it is impossible to create a parody of a conspiracy theory that someone won’t mistake for the real thing.” Out there on the internet, it’s often hard to tell who’s kidding and who isn’t.

Edit: the person who runs the above linked site may also be a holocaust denier. I’m surmising this based on some of the other pages he/she runs. I must admit to, at the moment, being unwilling to delve too deeply into those sites for fear I may find myself in a filthy sewer. They may also be completely batshit, if you’ll pardon the langauge. I suspect that Poe’s Law may not, in fact, need deployment in this instance.

Fast Cars & Dodgy Regimes

This post takes a little bit of a sideways step away from nuclear history and teaching towards…motor racing?

I’ve enjoyed motorsport since I was a kid and – depsite the ups and downs, the dismal years, and the dodgy politics – maintain a keen interest in Formula One. The hot debate within F1 circles at the moment is over the upcoming Bahrain Grand Prix. Due to the situation in Bahrain, the GP was cancelled last year, very much the right move under the circumstances. People were losing their lives as they protested for greater political freedom, a situation where the sight of a multi-billion pound circus parading around town, flashing its wealth and political connections would be reprehensible, at best.

Teaching American History: My pre-20th Century Syllabus

The last few weeks have been somewhat busy: marking, writing a draft chapter of the thesis, presenting said chapter at our American History Workshop here at the university (which was excellent and very useful.) So, I have miserably failed in my aim of making at least one substantive post a week. Oh well. I’m sure my two readers will be most upset.

As I’ve mentioned before when talking about my 20th century syllabus, I currently teach on the highly regarded American History 2 (AH2) course here at the University of Edinburgh.(1) Lecturing is carried out by the senior academic staff, while the majority of tutoring is carried out by postgraduates (here referred to as tutors. The equivalent in the US and other countries would be the teaching assistant.) Although there is a broad structure set out for each semester, tutors are at liberty to modify this as they see fit and according to their own particular expertise.

This can be both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, the freedom to arrange tutorials according to your own preferences and the needs of particular classes is great. On the other hand, it involves additional work when compared to other courses (although, it must be said, this is by no means an onerous workload.)