Blake Scott Ball
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Articles by Blake Scott Ball
A Revolution Captured on Canvas
In John Adams’ estimation, the American Revolution began with an argument in a back room in Boston. “Who of your profession will undertake to paint a Debate or an Argument?” the former president asked of the artist John Trumbull in a letter in 1817. Adams had just read the news that Trumbull would be completing a series of historical paintings chronicling the major events of the Revolutionary War, a project that had spanned most of Trumbull’s adult life.
Can Adam Smith Reach Gen Z?
There’s a common assumption among the older generations that today’s college students are more swayed by socialism than ever before. There’s fear that this generation may be lost to the alluring temptations of “free” government programs and centrally planned economies. As a college professor over the past seven years, I have not found this to be the case. Make no mistake, the heralds of central planning and redistribution have never had so many mass outlets for spreading their deceptions.
Markets and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
This week there will be countless reflections on the incredible accomplishments of the American Civil Rights Movement. There will be celebrations of the monumental life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. There will be reflections on the successes and shortcomings of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the subsequent Voting Rights Act of 1965. But there will inevitably be few essays extolling perhaps the most important mechanism of the whole movement: the free market.
The Hero Gen Z Needs
This article was featured in One Story to Read Today, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a single must-read from The Atlantic, Monday through Friday. Sign up for it here. Snoopy was everywhere when I was growing up, in the early 2000s.
Batman and the Masks We Wear
Michael Keaton in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman. (Photo by Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images) FOR THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS, fans of the Caped Crusader have celebrated “Batman Day” on the third Saturday in September. This year, the folks at DC Comics and Warner Bros. have a host of events planned around the world, including re-releasing older Batman movies in theaters, streaming more titles, and of course, selling lots of Batman merchandise. (Did you know that Amazon has a whole Batman store?
The Trouble with Politics in Pop Culture
Print In 2023, our politics and our entertainment have become so blurred that we can hardly distinguish one from the other. As a result, we are inundated by politics everywhere we turn. Late night television, the morning sports recap, Disney movies, even the beer aisle at the local supermarket. But as the volume of politics in our daily lives has increased in the twenty-first century, the quality of that content has drastically declined.
Free Markets Made Charlie Brown and Snoopy Possible
For humanity to flourish, we must be free to explore our full selves So many of our criticisms of Marxist practice revolve around its devastatingly bad outcomes for standards of living. There’s good reason for this. In the early 1960s, somewhere between 15 and 50 million people (we cannot know exactly how many because communist states do not permit free and open inquiry of government records) starved to death in Mao’s so-called “Great Leap Forward.” The Soviet record was hardly any better.
Free Markets Made Charlie Brown and Snoopy Possible
Print So many of our criticisms of Marxist practice revolve around its devastatingly bad outcomes for standards of living. There’s good reason for this. In the early 1960s, somewhere between 15 and 50 million people (we cannot know exactly how many because communist states do not permit free and open inquiry of government records) starved to death in Mao’s so-called “Great Leap Forward.” The Soviet record was hardly any better.
Lucky to be alive: highway patrol searches for hit-and-run driver
Blake Ball, 33, of Arnold returned to work Monday after the motorcycle he was riding was struck by a hit-and-run driver last week, which surprisingly left Ball with just minor
Upcoming Book Talk!!
Coming up in February, I'll be going online to talk about my book Charlie Brown's America with the good folks of Lexington, MA. Don't live...
Top 3 Cartoons of the 1990s
By Blake Scott Ball A couple weeks again I joined my friend The Tattooed Historian to debate our top 3 cartoons of the 1990s. Think you can guess what our picks were? This was a really fun walk down memory lane that gets into the culture and history of the decade as we explored what made the 1990s so unique. Check it out below!
What is a Good Citizen, Charlie Brown?
This letter has been making the rounds over the last few days thanks to the midterm elections. Several friends shared it with me on Twitter. I thought it would be a good opportunity, then, to share it with my readers and reflect on what it tells us about Schulz and what it means for us today. This letter was re-discovered just a couple years ago by the man who wrote it as a school child. It had been long forgotten and stowed away in storage for decades.
Boy, Have We Got Bad News for You
With Election Day tomorrow in what is likely to be another contentious vote, it can be easy to feel like poor Linus here. "The news is so bad you don't even want to know!" There's been a lot of bad news in recent years. Even when the news has been relatively good, many have found a way to paint it in the worst possible light. It can be hard to feel good about the state of things. Charles Schulz's characters were the best at facing the droning negativity of life and yet refusing to be stopped.
(Not So) Friendly Neighborhood Batman
This weekend I've been at the American Studies Association meeting in New Orleans. Great conference! It's my first time attending. I was here on a panel discussing race, class, and gender in the Spider-Man franchise. It was a really fun and enlightening conversation. I can't believe I get to do stuff like this for my living. Afterward, I went to dinner with the panel and one of the attendees. In our conversations, we discussed Charlie Brown and Charles Schulz, of course. And we talked about Batman.
Do Books on Comics Need Pictures?
When I published my first book last year, it got a lot of reviews. It made the Wall Street Journal's national print edition. The Financial Times and The New Republic reviewed it. Time magazine did a write up on my findings in the book. The editor-in-chief of Christianity Today, Russell Moore, recommended it to his expansive audience of newsletter readers. I was blown away by the reception.
Charles Schulz, Peanuts, and the power of community
Charles Schulz believed that life was hard and lonesome. That is why he believed that life was best experienced with others. Only through the sharing of burdens and triumphs and fears and joys could a person navigate the immense challenges of life. This was the truth at the heart of five decades’ worth of Peanuts comic strips. This was the message at the core of the landmark television special A Charlie Brown Christmas. This belief in community was central to who Charles Schulz was.
Is Joe Biden Charlie Brown with the Football?
This has been a tremendously frustrating end of the year for Democrats: The ugliness of the exit from Afghanistan, high gas prices, supply-chain complications, stubborn COVID variants, and concerning inflation rates have all but derailed much of the agenda that President Joe Biden and his party had hoped to accomplish with their majorities in Congress.
A Charlie Brown Christmas: the unlikely triumph of a holiday classic
A Charlie Brown Christmas was never supposed to be a success. It hit on all the wrong beats. The pacing was slow, the voice actors were amateurs, and the music was mostly laid back piano jazz (the opening theme, “Christmas Time is Here,” carried a strange, wintery melody built on unconventional modal chord progressions). It was almost like the program was constructed as a sort of anti-pop statement. In many ways, that’s exactly what it was.
Perspective | The ‘Peanuts’ attempt to teach U.S. history offers lessons for today
Americans are at war with one another about what schools should teach children about the country’s history. On one side are those who see major historical initiatives like the New York Times’s “1619 Project” as a long-overdue corrective to a whitewashed U.S. history. Opposing them are those who view such programs and “critical race theory,” the latest poorly understood but oft-attacked boogeyman, as an attempt to undermine valued American traditions and sow deeper racial strife and animosity.
How Charlie Brown Remained A “Good Man”
Book cover: Oxford University Press _____ Charlie Brown had a hard time choosing sides. This was always part of the humor of his character. It was also one of the many things he hated about himself. On New Year’s Eve 1965 Charlie Brown, the star of cartoonist Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts, decided to change: he would be decisive, clear-cut, and well-grounded. Ever the realist and always happy to burst Charlie Brown’s bubble, Lucy van Pelt would not let the boy deceive himself. “Forget it,” she blurted.
Pressuring pop culture creators can help fight racism in America
Today, the American political and social landscape seem fractured to a greater extent than at any time in recent memory. Many wonder what can be done to bridge divides, or at least to address the deep societal problems plaguing us. An episode from another moment when American society seemed to be tearing apart - 1968 - reminds us activism can begin on the smallest scale, that focusing on popular media can enable changes that spill over and lead to transformation on a larger scale.
Opinion | A little empathy could go a long way to healing our nation
In his inaugural address, President Joe Biden made a powerful call for unity. Unity would require Americans to have empathy for their fellow citizens. Biden declared that “we must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal. We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts.” As historians, this was music to our ears.
Commentary: How Snoopy helped us remember D-Day
Snoopy, who first appeared in the “Peanuts” comic strip in 1950, has been everywhere at this point: summer camp, college, the desert to visit his hapless brother Spike. He’s been to the airfields of World War I in his unceasing fight with the Red Baron, and even to the moon with the crew of Apollo 10. He also went to Normandy, France, in a national call for remembrance and unity.
How Snoopy helped us remember D-Day
OPINION How Snoopy helped us remember D-Day By BLAKE SCOTT BALL | Special to The Washington Post | Published: June 7, 2019 Snoopy, who first appeared in the "Peanuts" comic strip in 1950, has been everywhere at this point: summer camp, college, the desert to visit his hapless brother Spike. He's been to the airfields of World War I in his unceasing fight with the Red Baron, and even to the moon with the crew of Apollo 10.
How Snoopy helped us to remember D-Day
Blake Scott Ball Published Jun 7, 2019 at 8:00 am (Updated Jun 7, 2019 at 9:02 am) Blake Scott Ball Iconic cartoon: Charles Schulzs D-Day tribute in 1998 on Memorial Day War veteran: cartoonist Charles Schulz Snoopy, who first appeared in the Peanuts comic strip in 1950, has been everywhere at this point: summer camp, college, the desert to visit his hapless brother, Spike.
Perspective | How Snoopy helped us remember D-Day
Made by History Perspective Perspective Interpretation of the news based on evidence, including data, as well as anticipating how events might unfold based on past events In 2000, cartoonist Charles Schulz displays a sketch of his beloved character Snoopy in his office in Santa Rosa, Calif.
How Snoopy helped us remember D-Day
Snoopy, who first appeared in the "Peanuts" comic strip in 1950, has been everywhere at this point: summer camp, college, the desert to visit his hapless brother Spike. He's been to the airfields of World War I in his unceasing fight with the Red Baron, and even to the moon with the crew of Apollo 10. He also went to Normandy, France, in a national call for remembrance and unity.
Analysis | Wakanda and the dream of a black homeland
“Black Panther,” already the biggest February movie release in the history of Hollywood, is not a story about superheroes. It is not really a story about black and white race relations, either. At its heart, “Black Panther” is the story of the unique relationship between a people and their land. Wakanda, the fictional black utopia that Black Panther rules as king, is so majestic on the big screen as to steal many scenes in the film.
Good Grief: A message from Charlie Brown to Charlie Hebdo: opinion
The words have become a global solidarity statement, rallying the free world around a common faith in freedom of the press. The day after the Charlie Hebdo attack millions marched through Paris to show their support. And dotting the crowd were screenprinted t-shirts of one well-known, round headed American loser: Charlie Brown. The unassuming image circulated on Twitter within hours of the attack.
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