A review of Ken Burns’ “Country Music” (PBS)

Back in 2001, Ken Burns released a television history of jazz music. I was a big fan of that series when it first came out. I never imagined then that Mr. Burns would later be doing a television history of country music. But, in 2019, the series “Country Music” was released on PBS. Ken Burns’ “Country Music” is actually 16 hours long. This isn’t as long as his “Jazz” series, which was 19 hours long. Nonetheless, one can certainly learn something about the music’s history in 16 hours. There are some kinds of history that could probably be better explored in books. This seems to be because books can go into greater depth than even the longest of television histories. But you’d have to be pretty good at reading sheet music, to get much out of a book on this subject. And, even then, there’s no substitute for carefully listening to the period musical recordings. The visuals can certainly help, too, and Ken Burns is a master at finding period visuals – such as photographs and film footage from the time. But, in an inherently audio-centered subject like music, the advantages of the television medium seem to outweigh the disadvantages. The chief drawback of a television history like this one is usually its relative brevity. But, with a series that’s a full 16 hours long, this seems to be less of a problem here. You can see and hear the musical history in all its glory, and also learn something about the nation as a whole in the process.

How the Great Northern War facilitated the rise of Russia

The Renaissance and the Enlightenment both saw some major wars in Northern Europe

The Renaissance and the Enlightenment both saw some major wars in Northern Europe. They have gone down in history simply as the “Northern Wars.” I should acknowledge here that this is an international topic. Perhaps partially because of this, there is actually some controversy about what to include here in the simple term “Northern Wars.” There is even a significant controversy about the very names of these conflicts. Because of this, I will try to avoid controversial terminology like the “First” Northern War, or the “Second” Northern War. These are not internationally accepted, since there is no international standard for the nomenclature here. Thus, I will try to use neutral terms which are clearer, in an effort to avoid names that will be interpreted differently by different groups. Regardless, they would ultimately culminate in the “Great Northern War.” This was one of the greatest conflicts of the eighteenth century. In this case, the name is accepted much more widely. And it is also acknowledged that this was the largest (and last) in this great series of wars.

Peter the Great assaults Nöteborg, part of the Great Northern War (circa 1702)

A review of PBS’s “The White House: Inside Story”

“Decision, activity, secrecy, and dispatch will generally characterize the proceedings of one man [such as a president] in a much more eminent degree than the proceedings of any greater number; and in proportion as the number is increased, these qualities will be diminished.”

– Alexander Hamilton, in the Federalist Papers (Federalist No. 70)

We hear a lot about the “big historical events” of the American presidency. And, to some extent, this is as it should be – some events may just be more worthy of frequent mention than others. But what about day-to-day life at the White House, in either the past or the present? And what about the architectural history of the White House building itself? These are some of the questions that this program attempts to answer, in its brief two-hour runtime. This program was made in 2016, when Barack Obama was still president. (He left office on January 20th, 2017.) And, fortunately for the filmmakers, President Obama was very cooperative with them in allowing them to film various parts of the White House. As the filmmakers note in this film, thousands of people still tour the White House on a typical day, seeing rooms that are actually used for official state functions. That is, they don’t just see “show rooms,” but actual buildings that are regularly used for Washington business. They may see a dining room where a state dinner was recently held, or the Oval Office where the president does much of his business. In some ways, the White House is similar to a palace, which is on loan to whoever currently holds the office. But, if so, it’s a very democratic palace, full of American history stretching back to the country’s founding.

The White House after the fire of 1814

A review of Thomas Paine’s “Rights of Man” (audiobook)

In the United States, Thomas Paine is primarily remembered for his work “Common Sense,” and for some other stirring words written in his other work “The American Crisis.” (Words like “These are the times that try men’s souls.”) But relatively few have even heard of his 1791 work “Rights of Man.” The work was written in response to Edmund Burke’s 1790 work “Reflections on the Revolution in France.” To describe that work in detail would be tangential here, and I plan to do so later in another blog post. Thus, suffice it to say here that Edmund Burke was a major critic of the French Revolution, which was still going on when both men were writing these works. In this, Edmund Burke was closer to other American Founding Fathers besides Paine, such as John Adams and George Washington. Both of these men eventually shared Burke’s negative view of the French Revolution.

Thomas Paine

An overview of the New Zealand Wars

“The chiefs of the Confederation of the United Tribes of New Zealand and the seperate and independent chiefs who have not become members of the Confederation cede to Her Majesty the Queen [Victoria] of England absolutely and without reservation all the rights and powers of sovereignty which the said Confederation or individual chiefs respectively exercise or possess, or may be supposed to exercise or to possess over their respective territories as the sole sovereigns thereof.”

– Article 1 of the “Treaty of Waitangi” (1840), today considered the basis of the unwritten constitution of New Zealand

Early contact with Europeans, the Musket Wars, and the Treaty of Waitangi (1840)

European ships reached New Zealand as early as 1642. But the two main islands of what is now New Zealand were already inhabited by the Māori, as you may know. The British explorer James Cook arrived in 1769 – and, over the course of three voyages, Captain Cook eventually mapped and circumnavigated New Zealand. Of course, Māori wars predate European contact – but they took on a somewhat different character when European weapons like the musket arrived. This led to the native “Musket Wars,” which went from 1818 to sometime in the 1830s. (It’s hard to know exactly when these wars ended.) On 6 February 1840, William Hobson and his British associates signed the “Treaty of Waitangi” with some of the natives. Its anniversary is today celebrated as the national holiday of New Zealand. It is simply called “Waitangi Day” there. The local Māori tribes were convinced to sign. They had to cede many of their rights to the government of Queen Victoria, much to their chagrin. In return, Queen Victoria recognized their rights as “British subjects” (see the further quotes from the treaty below). Thus, one might say that the “Treaty of Waitangi” forms the basis of the unwritten New Zealand constitution – just as the Magna Carta forms the basis of the unwritten British constitution. But there were soon early engagements between the Māori and the British, such as the Wairau Affray in 1843.

The earlier Musket Wars, a Māori conflict influenced by the European musket

Hōne Heke cuts down the flagstaff on Flagstaff Hill at Kororāreka