James LaFond – Waking Up in Indian Country

If the events of 2020 have had a common theme, it is there is nowhere to hide. If the plague doesn’t get you, the riots will, followed by a helpful dose of economic displacement and firestorms from 20,000 simultaneous lightning strikes as seen in California recently. If this all doesn’t make one believe in a…

Disney – Escape from Tomorrow

Viewed from the lens of a business, whether in the form of t-shirts, movies, amusement parks or even cruises, the ubiquity of Disney’s empire is a sight to behold. Viewed as a cultural phenomenon, the company and the legacy of its founder in particular demonstrate similarly profound impacts on the moral framework of America and…

The New Russia – Dr. Matthew Raphael Johnson

In the words of historian and noted Russian scholar Dr. Matthew Raphael Johnson, the Soviet Union was the only empire to fall without a war. To the ordinary Russian citizen, however, the 1990s were no less tragic as life expectancy, average income, and birthrates all plummeted as crime, alcoholism and unemployment all rose. As the…

Herbert Hoover – Building a Legacy

Herbert Hoover’s reputation as President is quite often thought of in less favorable terms, having presided over the United States as it entered into the depths of the Great Depression in the 1930s. After the economic boom of the 1920s, the contrast was stark, and increasingly clear in Americans’ minds as Hoover’s limited attempts at…