Susan McWilliams Barndt
Susan McWilliams Barndt is Professor of Politics at Pomona College.
Her most recent book is The American Road Trip and American Political
Thought (Lexington, 2018).
Articles by Susan McWilliams Barndt
Facebook and Friendship
Whatever else you make of Facebook friendship, it underscores the great and significant discrepancy between: 1) the scale of contemporary life, and 2) the scale of friendship.
Building Something of Our Own
It may be the great sentiment of this American moment: “I want to build something of my own. How do you not understand that?”
Read the Printed Word
Here’s a sign of the times: if you’re worried about what all these digital and internet technologies are going to do to books, you can join a movement to signal…
Talk To Me, Barack
Obama is suffering because whether or not it is true, he seems not to understand what is going on around the country. Whether or not it is true, he seems…
The Book You Should Read This Year
Claremont, CA. They call it the “Superman Syndrome.” People who use methamphetamine often believe that they are capable of doing impossible things. Like flying. Or walking through walls. Or earning…
Kill Your Kindle
Claremont, CA. When my mother came to visit last week, she brought a copy of The Yiddish Policeman’s Union with her. Before she departed for the airport this morning, she…
The Decline of David Brooksian Civilization
Claremont, CA. Men of Western civilization, take note: David Brooks thinks that you – and he – are done for. In a recent exchange with Gail Collins, published on The…
The Young and the Insurance-Less
Claremont, CA. In the current conversation on health care, we often hear that the crises of costs and coverage are problems that come with an aging population. OK. Fine. What’s…
You’re Probably Looking For Porn
Claremont, CA. If you don’t want to read the new report from Harvard Business School, titled “Understanding Users of Social Networks,” you can just listen to the song from Avenue…
Swine Flu’s Real Exposure
Claremont, CA. The most haunting, awful scenes in Thucydides’s history of the Pelopponesian war are those describing the Athenian plague. The plague emerged in the second year of the war,…
It’s Really Come To This.
Claremont, CA. This is just too good. Driving near Universal City last weekend, I saw a sign for what is possibly the most mind-blowing business concept I have ever encountered…
The Old College Try
Claremont, CA. The New York Times has joined a host of other publications asking the question: Is college worth it? And again, just like every time I read an article…