The Long Shadow

of Marion Barry still looms large over D.C.’s political landscape. He’s been in the news recently, reviving the usual prejudices. Yet exactly who is Barry? How should we judge his legacy? Sam Smith has some interesting reflections about precisely that topic.

Read more

U-M Launches Blogging Service

The University of Michigan has launched a free blogging service for students, faculty, and staff called Mblog. The system uses Movable Type, and I applaud them for launching the overdue service. One of the University divisions involved in launching the site is the Bentley Historical Library, which houses the University’s official archives. The library is […]

Read more

Got $10?

I first met Scott Stadium at a D.C. blogger meetup. Scott had been a longtime reader of DCist and had written to me about the site. I remember one of the things we had talked about that night was a project he was working on related to the Peace Corps. As Peace Corps volunteer Scott […]

Read more

Review: Richard Sennett’s The Uses of Disorder

Richard Sennett’s The Uses of Disorder is one of those books I had heard obliquely mentioned so many times I decided, finally, to read it. Published in 1970, it has aged curiously. Labeled “sociology” by the publisher, the books’ oddly diverse jacket endorsements suggests the stew of ideas contained — the front cover claims it […]

Read more