July 21, 2008

Today in History: John Scopes found guilty

On July 21, 1925, John Thomas Scopes was found guilty of violating Tennessee’s Butler Act, which prohibited the teaching of evolution. Generations later, the teaching of evolution is standard and creationism (in the form of Intelligent Design) is the new challenger. Michael Lienesch, author of In the Beginning: Fundamentalism, the Scopes Trial, and the Making of the Antievolution Movement, examines… Continue Reading Today in History: John Scopes found guilty

Categories American History/History/Religion
July 17, 2008

Weekend Roadtrip #5: The Outer Banks

As I was driving to work this morning and listening to NPR, WUNC‘s Leoneda Inge was reporting from the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where locals are eager to draw more visitors now. (Forget what I said before about it being too late to plan a trip! It’s not too late!) The economies of beach communities depend on a thriving… Continue Reading Weekend Roadtrip #5: The Outer Banks

Categories Environmental Studies/Juvenile/Nature/North Carolina/Travel
July 14, 2008

Wall Street fiction(?)

With the real-life dramas unfolding on Wall Street these days, it’s only a matter of time before we witness a bumper crop of novels and thrillers set in the high-stakes financial world. David Zimmerman has written about the connections between novels and markets in an earlier period of American history

Categories American History/Business/Current Events/Economics/History/Literature
July 8, 2008

Repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

Maybe hearing it from retired officers in the armed services will push Congress to reconsider the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy toward gays in the military: “Evidence shows that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly is unlikely to pose any significant risk to morale, good order, discipline or cohesion.” A new study points to the British and Israeli armies… Continue Reading Repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

Categories Current Events/Gay / Lesbian Studies/Military Studies/Politics
July 3, 2008

Weekend Roadtrip #3: Pirates and shipwrecks and ghosts! Oh my!

Continuing the Beach Book Grab Bag series that began last week, this week’s picks are all about things that go splash in the night. North Carolina’s coastline slips into some treacherous waters — making them a perfect hunting spot for the pirates of yore who preyed on stranded ships. Six books with some spine-tingling tales of coastal haunts after the… Continue Reading Weekend Roadtrip #3: Pirates and shipwrecks and ghosts! Oh my!

Categories American History/History/North Carolina/Travel
July 2, 2008

As we consider the founding fathers

With all the talk this week about the First Amendment, I can’t neglect to mention the award-winning George Mason, Forgotten Founder, by Jeff Broadwater. Mason was one of the country’s earliest champions of civil liberties as the author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights. In fact, at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Mason pushed for such a bill of rights… Continue Reading As we consider the founding fathers

Categories American History/Biography / Autobiography/Politics
June 30, 2008

Happy Birthday, America! Now about that First Amendment…

This week we celebrate our nation’s independence, and I’m kicking things off a little early. I’m delighted to see our bookselling neighbors over at The Regulator Bookshop in Durham are joining the blogosphere. The Regulator has long been active in promoting the local economic benefits of indie stores (they’ve done the numbers) and has been a great champion of free… Continue Reading Happy Birthday, America! Now about that First Amendment…

Categories North Carolina
June 26, 2008

Weekend Roadtrip #2: Beach book grab bag (it’s educational!)

And now, back to our regularly scheduled program. Chances are, if you don’t already have a beach trip lined up this summer and you plan a road trip now, you’ll probably have to camp out in a tent or in your car, because North Carolina beaches are awesome and everyone wants to go and they make reservations early. But hey,… Continue Reading Weekend Roadtrip #2: Beach book grab bag (it’s educational!)

Categories Biology/Nature/North Carolina/Science/Travel
June 26, 2008

The Post Our Blog Editor Wouldn’t Post Herself

Kudos to our blog editor, Ellen C. Bush, for having her book of poems, Licorice, published by our neighbor, Bull City Press. And for hitting the big time with a mention on last week’s State of Things, radio broadcast on WUNC radio. You can learn more about Ellen’s book here, and listen to the audio tape of broadcast, with a… Continue Reading The Post Our Blog Editor Wouldn’t Post Herself

Categories UNC Press News
June 25, 2008

How healthy is “healthy”?

Yesterday’s New York Times offered a fantastic point/counterpoint book review pairing Nortin Hadler’s Worried Sick: A Prescription for Health in an Overtreated America with Nancy Snyderman’s book Medical Myths That Can Kill You: And the 101 Truths That Will Save, Extend and Improve Your Life. According to Hadler, a professor of medicine at UNC and attending rheumatologist at UNC Hospitals,… Continue Reading How healthy is “healthy”?

Categories Health / Medicine
June 24, 2008

Award winner: Our Daily Bread

The Michael Harrington Book Award, given annually by the New Political Science Section of the American Political Science Association, recognizes “a recent outstanding book that demonstrates how scholarship can be used in the struggle for a better world.” This year’s prize has been awarded to Geoff Mann for his book Our Daily Bread: Wages, Workers, and the Political Economy of… Continue Reading Award winner: Our Daily Bread

Categories American History/American Studies/Awards/Labor Studies
June 23, 2008

NC Mountains-to-Sea Trailblazing Underway

Sunday’s Raleigh News & Observer began a four-part series on the development of North Carolina’s Mountains-to-Sea Trail, which stretches from the Smoky Mountains to coastal dunes. UNC Press has published the only comprehensive hiking guide to this 900+ mile trail, written by Allen de Hart, who has been hiking, designing, constructing, maintaining, and writing about southeastern trails for more than… Continue Reading NC Mountains-to-Sea Trailblazing Underway

Categories Hiking/North Carolina/Travel
June 20, 2008

New Civil Rights Marker to be Unveiled in Durham

On June 23, 1957, six African American youths, accompanied by the Rev. Douglas Moore, sat down in booths reserved for white patrons at the Royal Ice Cream Parlor in Durham, North Carolina. When the owner called police, all seven protesters were arrested and charged with trespassing. This was the first major sit-in of Durham’s civil rights struggle.

Categories African American History/African American Studies/American History/Civil Rights/North Carolina/Women's Studies