What's missing from campus "culture wars" coverage

Plus: the history behind JD Vance's rhetoric |

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By Made by History / Produced by Olivia B. Waxman As students across the U.S. return to college, the rest of the nation will be watching. Americans have become accustomed to a steady stream of news about a narrow subset of students at usually elite institutions, their protests, and their colleges' responses to them. And with the presidential campaigns in full swing this fall, we can expect to hear even more about the college campus. But as Adrian Daub writes for Made by History, this tendency by the media, pundits, and politicians to pay outsize attention to what goes on at a handful of leafy university campuses is actually quite odd. What goes on there isn’t representative of America’s college students, and we tend to pay attention only to campus "culture wars"—not the underlying economic shifts that have shaped higher education and students’ lives. Yet, stretching back to the 1960s, the activities of college students have occupied our imaginations, and provided a steady stream of fodder for reactionary politics. Writers, pundits, commentators, and others painted a picture of “the campus” as invariably diminished from some previous point in time, marred by the actions of student radicals, leftists, feminists, and more. But the more we pay attention to this version of “the campus” the less we really understand about what goes on there.               The Dan David Prize, the largest history prize in the world (and a sponsor of Made by History), annually awards $300,000 each to nine early and mid-career scholars and practitioners in historical disciplines, acknowledging their outstanding achievements to date and to support future work. Anyone can nominate a practitioner in the relevant disciplines, and nominations for the 2025 Prize are open until Sept. 30. For more information visit  dandavidprize.org/nominate .

HISTORY ON TIME.COM Bangladesh’s Protests Have Been Decades in the Making By Tithi Bhattacharya / Made by History Decades of austerity in Bangladesh have devastated workers. Today's young people have rejected the status quo. Read More » The Troubling History Behind J.D. Vance’s Style of Rhetoric By Joshua Howard / Made by History For decades, conservatives like Vance have criticized welfare programs under the guise of defending the nuclear family. Read More » The History Behind Attacks on the Military Records of Politicians Like Tim Walz By Kyle Longley / Made by History In 2002, Republicans attacked the patriotism of a distinguished Democratic veteran. It worked and they've kept doing it ever since. Read More » Jack Daniel Knew the Value of an Inclusive Workplace By Fawn Weaver Jack Daniel, the man, fostered inclusion in an improbable time and place: the post-Civil War South. Read More » Netflix's KAOS Updates Greek Mythology in a Clever Eat-the-Rich Thriller By Judy Berman Smart casting, sharp dialogue, and inspired world-building fuel Netflix's fun update of Western culture's foundational lore Read More » Between the Temples and the New Jewish Cinema  By Barry Levitt Recent films, from Between the Temples to Uncut Gems to Beau Is Afraid, reflect an increasingly diverse depiction of modern Jewish life onscreen. Read More »

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FROM THE TIME VAULT This week in 1953: Audrey Hepburn Boris Chaliapin The Sep. 7, 1953, cover of TIME “Audrey Hepburn fits none of the clichés and none of the clichés fit her. Even hard-boiled Hollywood personages who have seen new dames come & go are hard put to find words to describe Audrey. Tough Guy Humphrey Bogart calls her ‘elfin’ and ‘birdlike.’ Director John Huston frankly moons: ‘Those thin gams, those thin arms and that wonderful face…’ Director Billy Wilder, who is slated to direct Audrey’s second picture (Sabrina Fair), contents himself with a prophecy: ‘This girl, singlehanded, may make bosoms a thing of the past.’” Read More » This week in 1970: Elliot Gould MILTON GLASER The Sep. 7, 1970, cover of TIME “The strain became too great, and after seven years together, the two separated. ‘Marriage to Barbra was a fantastic experience,’ says Gould. ‘It had a lot of chocolate souffle and things like that, but it was also like a bath of lava.’ Says Barbra: ‘It must have been very difficult for him. Marriages between people who are self-involved is hard. It’s safer for actors not to be married to one another.’ Gould’s surge of success followed closely upon his separation from Barbra, and analysis has also seemed to add to his self-confidence. ‘It wasn’t until the day before yesterday that I stopped being a tortured individual,’ he says.” Read More » This week in 1981: Meryl Streep FRANCESCO SCAVULLO The Sep. 7, 1981, cover of TIME “‘For a while there it was either me or the Ayatullah on the covers of national magazines,’ she says with no pleasure. ‘It was excessive hype.’ Of course, the line between excessive hype and just the right amount of hype is difficult to draw in show business. But the excitement Streep stirs whenever she appears on a screen or a stage has nothing to do with puffery. It is a real, if sometimes clumsily expressed, response to an artist of rare skill and presence.” Read More »

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