Alex Sayf Cummings's Blog, page 19

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?

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.

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?

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.

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.

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?"

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.

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.

My City in Not-Ruins

What is it like to see your city bombed out, like London during the Blitz, yet more or less intact?

Dispatches from Fresno, 1918-19: Following the ‘Spanish’ Flu Pandemic in Real Time, Part VI

Masks were certainly controversial. In San Francisco, a deputy health officer had shot and severely wounded a man who refused to don one.