History
Obama Presidency Oral History Project
We’re building one of the largest presidential oral history archives in existence, talking with more than 400 people for an archive of at least 1200 hours of video and audio interviews. Unlike previous presidential oral histories, we’re including people outside the administration — activists, politicians, artists, journalists, and ordinary people from across the world who shaped, and were shaped by, the Obama presidency.
It’s exciting work! You can learn much more about it here.
Made by History
In 2017, I co-founded Made by History, the political history section at the Washington Post, with Brian Rosenwald. At Made by History, we publish 11 pieces of historical analysis every week, written by historians across the world. From the start, we were joined by co-editor Prof. Kathryn Cramer Brownell of Purdue University, and in the years since, Prof. Carly Goodman and Prof. Keisha Blaine have joined our editorial team.
You can read our founding essay here, and catch up on everything we’ve published here.
The Secret White House Tapes
For four years, I was part of the Presidential Recordings team at the University of Virginia, where I worked in the secret White House tapes of John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and — of course — Richard Nixon (other presidents secretly recorded, too, but none as intensively as these three). My work focused on Richard Nixon, his vice president Spiro Agnew, and their relationship to the conservative movement.
NPR did a great piece on secret presidential recordings in 2017 — check it out!
Teaching
For several years, I taught courses at that University of Miami (the one in Florida), where I worked as a visiting assistant professor. My classes focused on U.S. politics and culture in the 20th century. They included:
History of the United States Since 1877
Conservatism in America Since 1945
Before Occupy and the Tea Party: Social Movements in 20th Century America
Suburbia: Culture and Politics in America’s Suburbs
Purchasing Power: Consumer Culture and Politics in 20th Century America
The American Century: U.S. Foreign Policy Since 1898