False profits and finding meaning in life.

BY JAMES TYNER On May 12, 2020, during a Senate Health Committee hearing, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) questioned Dr. Anthony Fauci about the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and efforts to ‘reopen’ the U.S. economy. Paul’s frontal attack on Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was part of a concerted effort among … More False profits and finding meaning in life.

Covid-19 and the struggle at the bottom of the labor market

BY MARC DOUSSARD Risky work and low pay shouldn’t co-exist. Economics textbooks and the public policies they support treat high pay—whether it’s an hourly wage, a stock option, or a lofty salary—as necessary compensation for the risks that befall people on the job. Without raising hourly pay well into the double digits, unpleasant or physically … More Covid-19 and the struggle at the bottom of the labor market

As the novel coronavirus rages in the US, it reveals a systemic rot and the privilege of profits over premature death.

BY JAMES TYNER As the coronavirus identified as Covid-19 began its steady, inexorable sweep across the globe—and, in the process, infecting not only people but the global economy—leaders in the United States sat by idly. Scientific experts, long chastised by President Trump and his followers as members of the ‘Deep State’, were silenced and subdued. … More As the novel coronavirus rages in the US, it reveals a systemic rot and the privilege of profits over premature death.

It’s our time to rally around local independent booksellers.

Dear friends, In this time of distancing, I’ve been nostalgic for those most ordinary communal experiences from the old world. Lunch with a friend, an evening at the theatre or cinema, a stroll through the museum: how easy it was to take these things for granted. Bookstore haunting is one of my very favorite pastimes. … More It’s our time to rally around local independent booksellers.

Reading closely but carefully: literature, the “real” world, and the political imagination

BY JUAN MENESES Associate professor of English, University of North Carolina at Charlotte   In Resisting Dialogue: Modern Fiction and the Future of Dissent, I argue that literature can offer roadmaps for citizens to navigate the depoliticization of their lives. In particular, I analyze situations in which dialogue is used not to motivate the democratic … More Reading closely but carefully: literature, the “real” world, and the political imagination

The Stories Still Need to Be Told: A Message for Our University of Minnesota Press Community

Dear U of MN Press community, friends, authors, scholars, and readers: To call these times unprecedented in our country and our world does not do justice to the level of disruption, difficulty, and genuine peril at our doorsteps. As with most of you, the emergency arrived swiftly at the Press. First, highly anticipated travel and … More The Stories Still Need to Be Told: A Message for Our University of Minnesota Press Community

Family memories and Johnny’s Pheasant: Two questions with Cheryl Minnema, winner of the Charlotte Zolotow Award

Earlier this month, author Cheryl Minnema (Johnny’s Pheasant) was awarded the 2020 Charlotte Zolotow Award for outstanding writing in a picture book. This annual award is given by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC), a library of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Minnema’s book, which features illustrations by Julie Flett, has … More Family memories and Johnny’s Pheasant: Two questions with Cheryl Minnema, winner of the Charlotte Zolotow Award

The Things That Made the Drink Famous: Valentine’s Day Edition

  This is the second part in a series by Doug Hoverson featuring breweriana that complement the book The Drink That Made Wisconsin Famous. This Valentine’s Day edition comes with some difficulty because beer has not been the traditional drink of romance in poetry, story, or song. While breweries have celebrated Christmas, Easter, St. Patrick’s … More The Things That Made the Drink Famous: Valentine’s Day Edition

It’s #BeerCanAppreciationDay, and we’re launching a new series: The Things That Made the Drink Famous.

      BY DOUG HOVERSON Welcome to this series of posts featuring brewery artifacts that serve as a complement to my book, The Drink that Made Wisconsin Famous. Pieces of content featured in here were left out due to space limitations in the already 700+-page-book. This inaugural post also celebrates National Beer Can Appreciation … More It’s #BeerCanAppreciationDay, and we’re launching a new series: The Things That Made the Drink Famous.

Thinking outside the orthodox box: An interview with Jonathan Eburne, winner of the MLA’s James Russell Lowell Prize

The Modern Language Association has announced that Jonathan Eburne’s Outsider Theory: Intellectual Histories of Unorthodox Ideas has won the James Russell Lowell Prize. One of the most prestigious scholarly awards in the world since its founding in 1969, the Lowell Prize honors an outstanding work in literary or linguistic study written by a member of the … More Thinking outside the orthodox box: An interview with Jonathan Eburne, winner of the MLA’s James Russell Lowell Prize