The summer circuit has begun. A few of our regular contributors are on their way to Orange, Virginia for the NEH Landmarks Institute at Madison’s Montpelier. So, I’m finally posting this today courtesy of free wifi at Hyperion Coffee in Fredericksburg. Here’s what your favorite group of civic-minded thinkers are thinking this week:
What didn’t you know last week?
The Servile State by Hilaire Belloc, and Everything’s an Argument by Andrea Lunsford, et al. (Laura/Puck/Puckermom)
Noah Pickus adds his work to the effort at Montpelier with a lecture titled “Constitutional Citizenship” and I always leave that institute determined to read his book. Well, I finally made it happen this round and I highly recommend True Faith and Allegiance by Noah Pickus. I have a more detailed post planned for the next couple of weeks looking at the five models of citizenship he discusses. (Shellee/Stepwinder)
A few of us are still working on Ralph Ketcham’s biography of James Madison. A thorough but incredibly well-written book that skillfully answers questions about both the political history and political theory of Madison. (Heidi)
Using the oil spill to discuss the modern presidency as one of perception (or illusion), Obama, the Oil Spill and the Chaos Perception in the NY Times. (Shellee/Stepwinder)
It’s the end of the Supreme Court’s term and decisions are being handed down almost everyday. Scotusblog is a great place to learn what’s been decided and to read commentary about the implications of the decisions. Today I am reading about the texting privacy case City of Ontario v. Quon. (Shayne/Conteach)
I just finished Grace Tiffany’s The Turquoise Ring. It’s her retelling of The Merchant of Venice from the perspective of five women in Shiloh (Shylock)’s life. My fiance brought it back from a conference of medieval historians and it’s a fascinating peek into the lives of Jews, Moors, and Christians in Venice, Amsterdam, and England in the 1500s. Dr. Tiffany is a Shakespeare scholar who lives in Michigan and who spoke at the conference. (Dianne)
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You can make this a conversation by leaving your thoughts on any of the ideas shared here as a reply in the comments section. If you’d like to join us as a regular contributor to the Wavelength, drop that note in the comments and you’ll hear from me before we post next week’s collection.
Shelle-I have had “True Faith and Allegiance” on my reading list as well. I will have to pull it off my bookshelf and read it. I am looking forward to the discussion of this book.
Shayne-The Quon case is crazy, why would you not use your own phone if you want to carry on those conversations?
On another Supreme Court ruling, McDonald v. City of Chicago, the district attorney in the county I grew up in has taken a rather far reaching approach to the decision, basically saying he won’t prosecute many gun related crimes. An article about this is at the following link:
http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/97680129.html