Buildings are history

Today in 1966, the National Historic Preservation Act became law, and it launched a massive effort to save historic buildings around the country that were in danger of encroaching urban sprawl and demolition. (You can read the act here. It is a well written defense of history.) In thinking about the effects of this momentous…

Death, censorship, and reality

This morning I was sent a link to this article in The Atlantic, which describes a photo taken by war photographer Kenneth Jarecke at the end of Operation Desert Storm. The photo was not chosen for publication in the U.S., based on its graphic nature. This prompted me to examine more closely how Americans view…