#679 - Manufacturing Consensus
Added 2025-12-22 03:58:47 +0000 UTC
Comments
As an ABD in History, with a minor field in US History since 1877, I found this one of the most interesting discussions of the entire run. At 22.15, Will comments 'What does it mean to be an historian?... What does an historian do?' And Luke at about a minute later echoes where this is going by observing that the concepts of the 'soul of individuals or nations' are not the subject of serious history. Luke actually answers Will's question towards the end, at 50.05, when he poses a different question 'How do you tell a national story...?' Most history departments are structured around the need to reinforce a national story, with the emphasis on the 'how' of Luke's question. They are literally the professional creators of Benedict Anderson's 'Imagined Community', the national ideologists-in-chief. In the particular context of US history, the assumed principle underlying all scholarship is that the US embarked on a unique national story in being a creation of a desire for liberty, so the national story is an account of the wrestling amongst Americans to define what liberty means. This is in sharp contrast to the geographical-linguistic happenstance that brought us 'the Netherlands' or 'Turkey'. 'The Meacham of this documentary, far from being an unserious historian, is an archetype of the US historian. A materialist interpretation of this same history, especially in an Americas context that embraces events in Mexico or Brazil, would rapidly undercut America's national story, which is one reason why American historiography has long been antagonistic towards the Beards.
Paul Brewer
2026-01-09 19:24:37 +0000 UTCYeahhhhhhh this ep is the good stuff
Martin Nolan
2025-12-30 15:20:49 +0000 UTCThe discussion about the slop-sheen paradox makrs me excited for you to hopefully watch Nolan's Odyssey which, based on the trailer, looks to be along those lines though I'd gladly be wrong
Avram Reisman
2025-12-23 22:35:51 +0000 UTCWe're working on this! FWIW you should be able to find them on Soundcloud. Plus, there's a great film by film ep list on Letterboxed. - L https://letterboxd.com/malcmanishere/list/the-michael-and-us-podcast/ https://soundcloud.com/michael-and-us/tracks
Michael and Us
2025-12-23 00:00:11 +0000 UTCY’all should try out the new David A.R White movie on Netflix called “A line of Fire”. Ex FBI agent action movie. Heard it’s great lol
Ashton Lorincz
2025-12-22 20:21:49 +0000 UTCIs there a reason why “the early years” aren’t available on Patreon?
majjj
2025-12-22 20:12:50 +0000 UTCI thought I would be hearing Haven Hamilton sing at the end of this episode but I was delightfully surprised by that hilarious song about the pilgrims!
Brian
2025-12-22 19:29:16 +0000 UTCGreat topic and discussion. I'm glad you brought up that Rosen piece. I can't remember if she covers this issue in it, but one factor in the increasing presentism of a lot of historians/public-facing historians is the incentive structure created by the neoliberal assault on higher ed and the corporatization of the university: the constant need to justify the discipline's/departments' existence by arguing the "relevance of history to the present" or to the "real world" (and, to a lesser extent, the "transferable skills" students will learn in history classes) has refracted the study of the past through the present in increasingly explicit terms. The disconnect between the celebration of past radicals and the modern centrism of a lot of these historians online drives me nuts: a lot of people with Debs as their profile picture who were ardent supporters of Elizabeth Warren. Infuriating.
Graeme Pente
2025-12-22 15:57:53 +0000 UTCEvery superdelegate poll should be between Slacker Uprising, Michael Moore Hates America, and Swing Vote.
Chris M.
2025-12-22 15:20:39 +0000 UTCThanks for the shout out Luke! This made my month!
Dana Woolery
2025-12-22 14:19:09 +0000 UTCI'm excited for more Michael Moore content from Luke & Will.
Motts
2025-12-22 05:11:33 +0000 UTC
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