I am off for a short road trip to visit with artists in Eastern Oregon and get my annual dose of smelling the pines of the High Desert.
In the meantime I leave you with an essay that can serve as a follow-up to my own post last week on what is happening in Europe, this week’s thoughts on what gets remembered in this country, and my posts here and here some years back specifically on memory culture. Where I confined myself last week to talk about the German election in the small state of Saxony-Anhalt, Seth Cotlar’s essay is providing wider comparisons in much more in depth. He is a historian who is a professor at Willamette University, currently teaching abroad, in Strasbourg.
Cotlar conveys historical and current political facts, but also guides us to the differences in memorial culture between European nations and our own. He addresses pivotal moments in history, the way things change, often unpredictably, and how we seem to ignore the lessons about how to forstall disruptive and destructive change. It is a learned analysis, as would be expected from a historian, but also an astute, empathetic capture of the moment, with smidgens of optimism. And very cool photographs. Much recommended read. Every time I open Rightlandia, Cotlar’s blog since 2025, I certainly learn something new.
And some reminders that black&white images can be striking, while black&white thinking is to be avoided.
Music today is Anna Vinnitskaya playing Ravel with the Strasbourg Symphony.
