Wesleyan in the News: August 2026
For The Wall Street Journal, President Michael S. Roth ’78 wrote a review of Hotel Exile: Paris in the Shadow of War by Jane Rogoyska, a book examining how the French capital went from a place of refuge for people fleeing Nazi aggression during World War II to a city willing to please the occupying power. “Drawing from the voluminous historical literature, as well as interviews conducted by various researchers with hotel staff over the years, Ms. Rogoyska relates heartbreaking stories of families destroyed, children murdered and law-abiding Jews naively signing up with French authorities with the misplaced confidence that they would not be turned over to the Nazis,” Roth wrote.
Roth also appeared on Freakonomics’ Better in Person podcast to discuss why large institutions still matter, his public writings in support of democracy, and what role Wesleyan serves for its students. “Wesleyan is a place where students can practice freedom while they're creating something new and discovering who they are,” Roth said.
Roth joined WAMC’s The Roundtable for a conversation on higher education and democracy. “I think it’s very important for us, at colleges and universities, to get our students to participate in the public sphere, especially with these elections coming up in November,” Roth said. “More generally, just to get in the habit of actually supporting your neighbors, improving your community, working together to ensure that the freedoms that we’ve enjoyed as Americans will continue for generations to come.”
Associate Professor of History and Religion Joseph Slaughter wrote about a new cohort of ordained Christian ministers who are running as Democrats in this election, including Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico, for The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Made By History. “Perhaps, politicians such as Talarico will succeed in reshaping how Christianity functions in the political space and reclaim a lost politics of religion within the Democratic Party,” Slaughter wrote. “Time will tell if they are part of a new vanguard, or only a brief aberration.”
Salon interviewed Michael Franz, co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project and professor of government at Bowdoin College, for a story on whether President Donald Trump will use funds raised by his super PAC to help the Republican party advertise its candidates this cycle. Franz said that a recent Supreme Court decision permitting parties to spend unlimited sums on candidates for Congress and president has the most impact in the last days of a campaign when ad space is most expensive. “Super PACs are going to pay through the nose in these competitive markets,” Franz said, “because if they want to get on ‘Jeopardy’ in Indianapolis or Columbus, Ohio, on the Wednesday before election day, the TV station that sells in the ad space would be happy to sell them the space for $10,000, and they’ll pay.”
Rachel Besharat Mann, assistant professor of education studies, appeared on WNPR’s Where We Live to discuss the upcoming school year for K to 12 students, including calls for schools to implement cell phone restrictions. “This excessive use is a symptom of a larger issue we’re having with young kids,” Besharat Mann said. “The mental health crisis is real, we need to address it. Often social media and phones get the blame which they deserve, but not fully as the root cause.”
Anu Sharma, professor of anthropology, was interviewed by KOSU for a story on the impact of an Oklahoma law requiring a notary to vouch for the identification of absentee voters before they cast their ballots in the state. Sharma said requirements like this shape the way citizens interact with public institutions and can become obstacles for those with fewer resources. “What if you don't have transportation?” Sharma said. “What if you don't have time? What if you don't know what documents a notary requires—or how to find that information?”
For The Conversation, Abigail Boggs, assistant professor of sociology and education studies, wrote about a revision to a visa rule for international students that limits their time in the United States to a predetermined period of time instead of for “duration of status,” or however long they are enrolled in an academic program. “The new rule does not end international education or impose a four-year maximum on all students’ degrees,” Boggs wrote. “It does mean, however, that more international students will need to get additional levels of federal approval so they can complete their education in the U.S.”
In a piece for The Conversation, Jennifer Tucker, professor of history and director of the Center for the Study of Guns and Society, explored the history of the construction of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which links the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument, after four people were accused of vandalizing the pool earlier this year. “The 1920s weren’t devoid of partisanship, graft and scandal. Far from it,” Tucker wrote. “But unlike Trump’s top-down approach, the process for building monuments and civic spaces involved Congress, artists, architects, engineers and city planners who debated, offered their expertise and listened to public.”
Gary Yohe, Huffington Foundation Professor of Economics and Environment, emeritus, joined the Entrepreneurs on Fire podcast to discuss his career researching the economic impacts of climate change and the nature of climate policy. “We do have the opportunity to abate, to mitigate, to slow down the emissions of greenhouse gases and the warming gases that affect the climate, and therefore change the pace of the acceleration of climate change,” Yohe said.
As a part of his regular interview series with The Nation, Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins, assistant professor of history in the College of Social Studies, interviewed historian and author Ned Blackhawk about the origin story of the United States following its 250th anniversary in July.
Founder of The Chronicle of Glen Falls Mark Frost ’72 was featured by The New York Times in a story about the paper’s staying power through periods of turmoil in the journalism industry. Frost has built a local newspaper with a passionate readership, which has led to inquiries to have him replicate his model in other towns. “My commitment is here,” Frost told The New York Times, noting that his “ambition is to build — keep building one great newspaper.”
Senator John Hickenlooper ’74, MA’80, Hon. ’10 co-authored a piece with former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords on the 14th anniversary of the Aurora movie theater shooting in Colorado for Colorado Politics. “In the wake of the Aurora shootings, we were a community ravaged by grief,” they wrote. “We’ll never forget the pain we felt, or the lives taken from us too soon, but we took action to honor the victims and prevent other Colorado families from knowing the devastating effect of gun violence.”
Carter Bays ’97, creator and showrunner of How I Met Your Mother, wrote a play, True Marriage, which will debut at the McCarter Theatre Center in New Jersey, according to Playbill. “It's a thrill and an honor to work with the incredible folks at McCarter Theatre as we bring this love story to life,” Bays said. “I set out to write a funny and true play about marriage. I hope the result is a fun night at the theatre that leads to lots of good conversations, and zero divorces.”
