My name is Aaron Pendell, and I fancy myself as an aspiring web journalist. I am a husband and father of two, residing in the NW suburbs of Chicago. My background is primarily in American History, however, no topic is off limits here.
As the subtitle — Monitoring Media for the Historically Relevant – implies, PiP is where I write about and link to news and events that pertain to history, historians, and current events which I believe will be high priorities for future historians. Of course, this is an impossibly broad focus for a blog, so I’ve narrowed it down in the following ways:
- Politically, I consider myself a progressive, so much of the content on PiP reflects a left-leaning point of view, and I have and will, from time to time, advocate for progressive causes.
- Freedom of information, a topic of supreme importance to historians, is prominently featured here. When previously classified documents become available to the public, for example, I’ll pass that information along whenever possible.
- You’ll find that satirical treatments of events, past and present, are an important part of PiP. For me, satire is the mouthwash for the lingering halitosis funk resultant of the present political discourse in America. Satirists such as Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are national treasures in my opinion. Without them, being the constant political observer that I am would be intolerably depressing. They also frequently interview historians, videos of which I habitually repost here.
- Lastly, media bias and historical revisionism are my pet peeves, and, sadly, both are pervasive forces at present. On this, let’s just say that if you’re someone whom still subscribes to the myth of the “liberal media” then you should probably just move along.
By no means is the content on PiP limited to the above. At present, I am a regular contributer on Care2.com’s Political Causes Blog, and I repost that content here whenever I can.
Elsewhere on the web, I may be found @
