216: David Blight: Why How We Remember the Past Matters

“If you’re not ready on some level for the tragedies of history, they’re coming to get you.”  In September of 2020 Professor David Blight got an unexpected call from his boss. The President of Yale wanted Blight to work on a project about Yale’s historical involvement with slavery. The undertaking was so enormous that the Pulitzer Prize winning historian remembers sitting on the phone “wishing that conversation wasn't happening.” But 4 years later the book was published. Yale and Slavery: A History has been lauded as “the most mature examination ever made of the role of slavery in a university’s past.”  Lee sits down with David to discuss why how we remember the past matters. “This idea that we don't want history to be divisive or to make people feel unpleasant or unhappy…is of course to manufacture tales that just don't hold up. Which is another way of saying it's like spreading lies in the service of nationalism.”  Show Notes, Resources and Transcript No Small Endeavor: Exploring what it means to live a good life, with thought provoking conversations about human flourishing, theology, politics, faith, social sciences, search for meaning, meaning and purpose, practices, common good, truth beauty and goodness, productivity, habit formation, neuroscience, science and religion, social justice, cardinal virtues, how of happiness, theology and culture, self development, happiness, virtue theory, being human, moral philosophy, community Join our subscriber only community called NSE+ BY CLICKING HERE. Get ad-free listening, great member only bonus content, and early access to tickets for our live shows. AND, know that you're helping make NSE sustainable by becoming a member.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices