Alex Sayf Cummings's Blog, page 18
May 27, 2020
The Quixotic Search for South Asian Media Representation
Mindy Kaling's new Netflix series raises a vexing question: even if we agree that representation matters, what counts as good representation?
May 26, 2020
Dispatches from Fresno, 1918-19: Following the ‘Spanish’ Flu Pandemic in Real Time, Part XI
The pandemic wanes, the world begins to reopen -- but in December 1918, was a second wave about to hit?
May 19, 2020
Dispatches from Fresno, 1918-19: Following the ‘Spanish’ Flu Pandemic in Real Time, Part X
Churches, flu masks, theatrical fare, and some hungry Fresnans. How does the crisis finally unwind?
May 12, 2020
What Can ‘Animal Crossing’ Tell Us About the Past and Present of Natural History Museums?
Amid the COVID crisis, museums are being reinvented online in ways that harken back to past ways of representing the natural world.
May 11, 2020
Dispatches from Fresno, 1918-19: Following the ‘Spanish’ Flu Pandemic in Real Time, Part IX
Fresnans impatiently wait to reopen their city. But has the flu been thwarted?
May 5, 2020
Dispatches from Fresno, 1918-19: Following the ‘Spanish’ Flu Pandemic in Real Time, Part VIII
The people of Fresno try to figure out how to celebrate the end of the Great War -- without reviving the flu epidemic.
May 4, 2020
We Are Nowhere and It’s for the Foreseeable Future
Why do we talk about "reopening" the economy, as if it were a bodega or a Bennigan's? Americans trip over political metaphors yet again.
May 3, 2020
In Search of Fathers: Nara Milanich on the Historical Puzzle of Paternity
The question, Milanich argues, is not "Who is the father?" but rather, "Who do we want him to be?"
April 30, 2020
The Coming Revolution, and the Necessity for a Rethinking of Marxism
Historian Chris Wright argues that we need to rethink Marxism for our current crisis, but without expecting revolution to happen in one big disruptive moment.
April 27, 2020
Dispatches from Fresno, 1918-19: Following the ‘Spanish’ Flu Pandemic in Real Time, Part VII
The flu appeared to be losing its grip on the city, suggesting that Fresno’s strict social distancing measures were bearing fruit.
