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The Supreme Court Between Power and Authority

Last week, the Court agreed without dissent to decide whether a former president of the United States is immune from criminal prosecution. But even amidst a unanimous judgment, the justices couldn't present themselves as a body above politics. For Hannah Arendt, the authority of the American Supreme Court was an essential aspect of the country’s foundation of freedom. Without it, all laws appear simply as means of power and politics.

Arendt, Michael Denneny, and the Origins of Gay Cultural Activism

Blake Smith writes about Arendt’s influence on the late Michael Denneny, her former student and one of the most influential gay cultural activists of the '70s. Smith writes, "Like Arendt, Denneny came to argue that the best hope for the survival of freedom lay not in traditional ideas of abstract, universal human rights . . . but rather in minority communities devoted to creating new practices, pleasures and identities, in a spirit of political engagement."

In Memoriam Ingeborg Nordmann

Few have done more to enrich Hannah Arendt scholarship than Ingeborg Nordmann. Nordmann worked with her friends and colleague Ursula Ludz to bring out the first edition of Arendt’s Denktagebuch in 2002 and reissued it in its present form in 2016. Their extraordinary edition has deepened and changed Arendt scholarship, offering a path to Arendt’s thought process and to her at times more personal reflections.

What Is Democratic Protest?

Last week in Berlin, I participated in a performance art show by the Cuban artist Tania Bruguera, “Where Your Ideas Become Civic Actions (100 Hours Reading of The Origins of Totalitarianism).” One Hundred scholars and artists and activists were invited to read for one hour. Bruguera asked me to read the first Chapter of Arendt’s book “Antisemitism as An Outrage to Common Sense.” The show was imagined as a way to spur civic dialogue.

The Big Lie

Writer Dara Horn writes about the “big lie” of antisemitism for The Atlantic, saying: "The through line of anti-Semitism for thousands of years has been the denial of truth and the promotion of lies. These lies range in scope from conspiracy theories to Holocaust denial . . . These lies are all part of the foundational big lie: that anti-Semitism itself is a righteous act of resistance against evil, because Jews are collectively evil and have no right to exist."

A Place to be Curious

Stephen Carter argues that we have ceased to see universities as laboratories for curiosity and instead imagine them as finishing schools designed to prepare students for successful careers. He argues that we need to return to the university driven by curiosity. To do that, Carter writes, we must think more clearly about what is the meaning of academic freedom and free speech:

The Truth Dies When Journalism Dies

Sebastian Junger, who will be giving the keynote address at the Hannah Arendt Center’s 2024 Conference on Tribalism and Cosmopolitanism, has recently written: “Journalism is important because reality is important, and reality is something that many generals and politicians have a complicated relationship with.”  When journalism dies, Junger argues, “The truth dies with it.”

Totalitarianism in the Bathtub

Lyndsey Stonebridge's surprising, wonderful, and novel new biographical tale of Arendt’s life and thinking, We Are Free To Change The World is not your typical biography. It offers a quirky, original, serious, and humane inquiry into Arendt’s work and her continuing relevance in our world.  

American Jewish Peace Archive: An Interview with Robert K. Lifton

HAC is proud to sponsor The American Jewish Peace Archive, a comprehensive repository of over 200 interviews with U.S. and Israeli Jews who have advocated for self-determination for Jews and Palestinians. Organized by activist and oral historian Aliza Becker, the Archive seeks to explore the plurality of Jewish thought on Israel. Today, we share an excerpt from a conversation with Robert K.Lifton, who served as President of the American Jewish Congress from 1988-1994.