Honoring America's World War II Air Forces on V-E Day

Today, the capital witnessed a once-in-a-lifetime display of dozens of America's most famous WWII warplanes. In honor of the 70th anniversary of V-E Day, the skies over the National Mall were filled with amazing aircraft like the P-38, F4U, B-17, and B-29 for the "Arsenal of Democracy: World War II Victory Capitol Flyover." Thousands turned out to watch, and I sat just in front of the U.S. Capitol, cheering like everyone else. It felt like being a part of the history which is so much still in our national consciousness. I write about it in more depth over at National Review.

On Human Origins, Neanderthals, and Dogs

As a relatively new dog owner, one of the most fascinating areas of anthropological research to me is the human-canid connection. I had a beagle growing up, in middle and high school, but was a typically disengaged teenaged owner. Now, however, as the "father" to a German Shepherd-Lab-Border Collie mix, I'm surprised to have developed very strong and personal feelings that unless one owns a dog, in some ways one is not fully human. I don't mean in a biological way, of course, but in an anthropological or sociological way, the same way I feel about having children. To me, that unit of parents-children-dog seems perfectly balanced, even natural, though I certainly wouldn't criticize anyone for having neither children nor dog (nor for being unmarried, for that fact).

There is a reason, however, that we call dogs "man's best friend." And science has steadily been providing the supporting evidence to understand what that really means. It is closer to being proved that the human-dog relationship did in fact help make us human. A brand-new book by Penn State anthropologist Pat Shipman, The Invaders, makes that case that a homo sapiens--wolf-dog alliance during the late Pleistocene Era helped ensure the survival of modern humans, and thereby of human civilization.

The book is primarily an attempt to answer the question why did the Neanderthals go extinct in Eurasia, thereby leaving the recently-arrived Homo sapiens as the only hominin on earth? Shipman's argument turns in no small part on the partnership between two apex predators: early humans and wolf-dogs. This allowed for more efficient and lethal hunting, which benefited both species, and permanently altered Eurasia's ecosystem.

I will be doing a full review of the book for The Claremont Review of Books later this year, but for now, I walk my dog in full appreciation that we are carrying on an alliance that may be as old as 40,000 years.

Mad Max at the Baseball Dome

What would it be like to live in a dystopic future? To play professional sports in an empty stadium, like Rome after the fall?

Yesterday, America found out, as the Orioles and White Sox contested in front of 45,000 empty seats in Baltimore. A failure of governance that caused the shut down of a major American city, and the bizarre spectacle of baseball with no fans allowed inside the park, for their own safety. A one-time occurrence or a harbinger of the future? I write about it here.

HistoryWatch: Gibbon's Birthday

On this day in 1737, Edward Gibbon, the greatest Enlightenment historian was born. Last year, I was in Rome on the 250th anniversary of the famous day he decided to write a history of the "decline and fall of the City."

You can find a brief celebratory piece marking that anniversary here. 

Nuclear Deja vu

What could possibly be the odds that the grandson and namesake of the man who dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima is now in charge of America's nuclear bombers? This takes historical rhyming to a new level. A short piece on Brig Gen Paul W. Tibbets IV is here. 

Some Life Lessons, Courtesy of Baseball

Every spring, hope returns to millions of baseball fans. Growing up a Chicago Cubs fan, that moment of expectation was particularly powerful, given what usually transpired during the rest of the Cubs' season.

Yet the real hope that baseball gives is tied to life lessons: on hard work, responsibility, and the occasional heroics. At no time do these lessons, and the optimism that comes from them, appear more powerful than when a heralded rookie gets his shot in the Major Leagues. Early this year, that lesson was provided by the Cubs' Kris Bryant. I wrote about him and the larger meaning of his call-up to the Show here. 

A Visit to Georgetown's Tocqueville Forum

Last month, I gave a talk at my alma mater, Georgetown, to its Tocqueville Forum. I recently wrote about the experience, and explained the mission of this wonderful intellectual society here.