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The Trump Trial
As I’ve noted before, I’m writing an occasional “Election Chronicle” for the Tocqueville 21 web magazine. It is also coming out, in French and Spanish…
Apr 16
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David A. Bell
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The Trump Trial
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March 2024
In Our Political Language, World War II has Never Ended
I was living in France, forty years ago, when Ronald Reagan came to Normandy to mark the fortieth anniversary of the D-Day landings. I didn’t like…
Mar 31
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David A. Bell
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In Our Political Language, World War II has Never Ended
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On Dune, Eugenics, and the New Film
I first read Frank Herbert’s Dune when I was twelve and have re-read it several times in the fifty years since (yes, fifty. Oy). It is a hugely uneven…
Mar 14
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David A. Bell
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On Dune, Eugenics, and the New Film
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February 2024
Writing About Lives
I have been thinking a great deal about biography recently: how to write about lives. The most immediate reason is an essay I published last week about…
Feb 24
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David A. Bell
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Writing About Lives
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Recent Writing
Here is a round-up of a few recent publications of mine. My review of Ridley Scott’s Napoleon has come out in The New York Review of Books. It’s always…
Feb 18
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David A. Bell
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Recent Writing
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Against “Pointiness,” or, What is Really Wrong With Elite College Admissions
You are a senior at a fancy private school in New York City, and tragedy has struck. It is December, and you have just been deferred—or perhaps even…
Feb 4
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David A. Bell
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Against “Pointiness,” or, What is Really Wrong With Elite College Admissions
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January 2024
What is Liberalism?
What is Liberalism? A few new publications to mention this week. I have a new journal article in French History related to my ongoing book project on…
Jan 9
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David A. Bell
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What is Liberalism?
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December 2023
The Election's Judicial Turn
Being a pundit manqué, in addition to this newsletter I’m doing an occasional chronicle of the 2024 election for the Tocqueville 21 website. Here is the…
Dec 29, 2023
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David A. Bell
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The Election's Judicial Turn
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On Plagiarism, and the President of Harvard
Here’s a common problem in academic writing. You’re writing an introductory section to an article or a chapter, and need to include some basic…
Dec 23, 2023
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David A. Bell
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On Plagiarism, and the President of Harvard
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The Plight of the Elite University President
It is hard to pity the presidents of elite private universities. They earn upwards of a million dollars a year and can extend the bounty well beyond…
Dec 11, 2023
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David A. Bell
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The Plight of the Elite University President
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November 2023
Historians and the Public
The creation of the World Wide Web thirty years ago led some of the walls of the ivory tower to start crumbling. At the time, doing serious reading in…
Nov 28, 2023
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David A. Bell
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Historians and the Public
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More Napoleon...
The Ridley Scott film opens today, and so, not surprisingly, I’ve been spending a lot of time over the past couple of weeks talking about Napoleon. I…
Nov 22, 2023
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David A. Bell
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More Napoleon...
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