Category Archives: Personal
Core Identity and the Nineteenth Century Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
I have spent many years studying the history of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS), renamed the Community of Christ in 2000. This was the most successful of any of the non-Utah variety of churches … Continue reading
Have You Ever Seen the “Abilene Paradox” in Action?
I’m pretty sure you have seen this dynamic, although you may not be aware of it with this name. It is fundamentally a construct of Jerry B. Harvey, now a retired professor of Management at George Washington University. He first described … Continue reading
Meeting Jesse Lemisch: Historian of the American Revolution, Critic of the Status Quo, and Social Activist Par Excellence
I was truly honored to meet Jesse Lemisch at the American Historical Association annual meeting in New York over the past weekend. My partner, Monique Laney, took this picture of us. I suspect that many people at the reception did … Continue reading
Wednesday’s Book Review: “Empire of Conspiracy”
Empire of Conspiracy: The Culture of Paranoia in Postwar America. By Timothy Melley. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2000. Americans, certainly, and perhaps all the cultures of the world, love the idea of conspiracy as an explanation of how and why … Continue reading
Something Fun for a Friday: Bing Crosby and David Bowie Sing a Christmas Duet
I first watched Bing Crosby and David Bowie sing this combination of “Little Drummer Boy” and “Peace on Earth” on a Christmas special in the late 1970s. I was in graduate school at the time and balancing a job, school, … Continue reading
Something Fun for a Friday: 2014 USAF Flash Mob at NASM’s Udvar-Hazy Center
On December 2, 2014, at the National Air and Space Museum’s Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles International Airport the USAF Band showed up to stage another flash mob. It’s a great holiday treat. Enjoy!
Spaceflight and the Preservation of the Physical Past
Cultural relics from Apollo, as well as other wreckage, soft landers, and rovers currently exist on the Moon, undisturbed since their arrival. That does not mean that no one will do so in the future. With the Google Lunar X … Continue reading
Guaranteeing Aeronautical Innovation: Is that Possible?
For the twentieth century no set of technological innovations are more intriguing than those associated with aviation. Perhaps no technological development in this century has more fundamentally transformed human life than the airplane, coupled with its ground support apparatus and … Continue reading
Why Do Academics Blog?
There is an interesting article in the journal, Studies in Higher Education, published in 2013 entitled, “Why Do Academics Blog? An Analysis of Audiences, Purposes and Challenges.” Written by Inger Mewburn and Pat Thomson the abstract reads: “Academics are increasingly … Continue reading
Roger Launius's Blog 