Wouldn't be Bad if...

...I could keep to a schedule. Yes, I'm an historian who can't keep track of dates. I didn't note Miland Brown's bravura hosting of our September carnival, nor did I note the fact that our brave founder, John McKay, aka archy will be hosting our next edition in a little over a week.

It's a Bad history carnival, not a neat, tidy chronology carnival, right?

Carnival #8: Liberty and Power

David Beito of Liberty and Power has Carnival #8 up!

Carnival of Bad History #7

The seventh installment of this now-monthly event is up at Hiram Hover's. Go on over, have a good bad history time!

Call for Hosts!

There's been so much great bad history on the web in the last few weeks (e.g. this or this or this), I'm seriously considering doing it myself, but before I do (and because I have other things I need to take care of this week) I want to give a last call for volunteers. Anyone who wants to put their name at the top of one of the most fun carnivals ever, drop a comment, or an e-mail and we will set you up. Late June, anyone?

Bad History Gets Better.... is that good?

When I posted notice of the First Carnival of Bad History, fellow Cliopatriarch Jonathan Reynolds quipped "Methinks we are only beginning to scratch the surface!"

Four (and a half) CoBHs later -- several of which have featured my work -- I think it's safe to say that we've scratched a lot of surfaces over the last year, but there's lots of pristine bunk out there, just waiting for bloggerly attention. Though I think professional historians have a special obligation to be tech-savvy and publicly outspoken on matters of historical interpretation and discourse, the Skeptics Circle community has been very engaged with historical illogic (e.g. Holocaust denial rebuttal here or here), and the CoBH itself was founded by the eminently skeptical John McKay.

I love this carnival -- its broad participation, its irreverent intolerance for ignorance, its potential as an educators' tool -- and I'm really honored that John has invited me to join the administrative team. It might seem odd for a professional, credentialed historian to take this step -- surely "Carnival of Bad History" will raise a few eyebrows on an academic cv -- but I intend to see this become one of the premier gathering grounds for reality-based snark, furious fact-checking and historical fun.

There will be a few changes coming: After the next quarterly installment, currently scheduled for June 20th, the CoBH will be going to a monthly schedule! It's a cliche, I know, but the blogosphere moves too fast for a quarterly event to maintain anyone's attention, and a healthy carnival needs a good rhythm and regular attention. The increased pace, though, means that we really need hosts! The next edition is scheduled for one month from now, and then we'll have one a month after that, etc. Contact John or I to volunteer, and make your mark in one of the most talked-about carnivals in the blogosphere! Or, if you just want to contribute material, you can send links to us or submit them here; nominations can be of other people's work as well as your own, if it deserves inclusion.

Carnival of Bad History, Winter 2005 edition

Number four of Carnival of Bad History is up over at Neural Gourmet. This is the biggest and baddest Bad History yet. It has Nazis (how can you do bad history on the internet without Nazis?). It has current events. It has Ninjas. It has woolly mammoths (okay, I sent that one). It even has annoying e-mail from your in-laws. I'm still reading my way through the choice offerings, but I haven't found a bad post yet. Go visit the Neural Gourmet and check out the bad holiday smorgasborg.

Bad History Number Four is on the Way

We have a host for the next Carnival of Bad History. As we were rapidly approaching to the date for the winter CoBH and still lacked a host I was debating whether to give up on the whole carnival idea or resign myself to permanent hosthood. I was actually in the process of writing a post on the subject when I got a note from Coturnix saying that he had located a host volunteer. The Neural Gourmet has stepped up to the plate to, uh, punt a basket, or whatever it is you do at the plate--I never was very good at the sports metaphor thing. The next CoBH will be held on December 22. That means you have lots of time to write a post, post a post, and submit said post to The Neural Gourmet for inclusion. Have a myth you want to bust? Heard someone say something astonishingly ahistorical? Discovered a great conspiracy theory? Just want to review a bad movie? If it has anything to do with history, this is your chance.

A new record

Sadly No! discovered this gem while digging through the comments on Lucianne.com.

An earlier post said that New Orleans is 400+ years old. If our country is 229 years old, how is this possible? The Indians had a city here?

For once, my sarcasm fails me.

Bad History? Yes, Bad History!

The Carnival of Bad History # 3 is here. Horatio at Dodecahedron has the latest edition for your reading pleasure. He's made it a very special Michael Jackson edition. Michael Jackson? Yes Michael Jackson! Horatio has something for everyone. He has Nazis. He has terrorists. He has Intelligent design. He has Paul Harvey. Paul Harvey? Yes, Paul Harvey! History isn't just that highschool class taught by coaches (badly), history is everything. Culture, politics, movies, the good, the bad, and, yes, the ugly. Bad history is mostly the ugly. Go, read up, get inspired, and track down your own bad history for the next carnival.

Prepare for bad history

We're just three weeks away from the next Carnival of Bad History. Horatio at Dodecahedron has volunteered to be the host. We have some submissions, but we can always use more. Want to review a bad historical movie? Know of a nonsensical conspiracy that needs debunking? Heard a politician or pudit make a really silly analogy? This is your chance to set the record straight. Send your submissions to John at archy, or to CoBH, or to Horatio at Dodecahedron.