All Gussied Up and Noted ...

If you haven't noticed some changes at History News Network, you may want to see an eye doctor. All of us owe JeremyBoggs, Simon Kornblith, and HNN's Rick Shenkman a big round of applause for the major rehab of the site. And, just when I was beginning to get used to being all gussied up, Rick announces that 15 major presidential historians have joined him at POTUS. It's a pleasure to welcome them and the renewed vitality they bring to history blogging at History News Network. But, while we preen and crow, there are other important things to be noted, like:

Slavoj Zizek's"What If We Don't Act Now?" reviews Andrew Roberts, ed., What Might Have Been: Imaginary History from 12 Leading Historians for the London Review of Books, 18 August. Zizak asks why conservative historians dominate the writing of counter-factual history and replies that the counter-factual plays a crucial role in the radical imagination. Thanks to Amish Lovelock at The Weblog for the tip.

My colleague, KC Johnson, is noted for shunning controversy, of course. Nonetheless, his post,"Majority-Rules Curricula," somehow stirred controversy both here and at Crooked Timber. The conversation continues in both places. ...

One day, a good historian will tell the story of how something called"Intelligent Design" seized space on the national public agenda. In the meantime, Kevin Drum recommends Chris Mooney,"Inferior Design," TAP, 10 August; and Jerry Coyne,"The Faith That Dare Not Speak Its Name," TNR, 11 August. If you haven't yet lost your sense of humor about it, my colleague, Manan Ahmed recommends Bobby Henderson's"Open Letter to Kansas School Board" about the"Flying Spaghetti Monster."

At Horizon, Alan Hogue calls our attention to the results of The Guardian's contest to tell the story of Dumbledore's Death in the style of a major writer other than J. K. Rowling."The Poppingye of the Clogges," in the style of Geoffrey Chaucer was declared the winner, but there are dozens of entries posted over there, in the styles of writers both better and worse than Rowling, herself.

Finally, at Slate, Brenden I. Koerner's"Ranch Dressing: Why Do Americans Love It So Much?" 5 August, tells you what you need to know. We can look forward to his book, How Ranch Dressing Changed Western Civilization. Thanks to Mark at Big Tent for the tip.