The Wordy Shipmates

I found out last week that Sarah Vowell (aka, Incredible Girl) will be speaking at the Cleveland Public Library on Sunday, November 16 at 2:00 pm. She will be discussing her new book, The Wordy Shipmates. The book is a look back at the Puritans and the founding of Massachusetts. She discusses the first governor of Massachusetts, John Winthrop, and his sermon "A Model of Christian Charity." His image of a "shining city on a hill" (originating from the Sermon on the Mount from the book of Matthew) is considered the origin of the American ideal of Manifest Destiny – that Europeans/European Americans would occupy land from sea to shining sea, enlighten Native Americans to Christian ideals while removing them from their land. This same ideal, Vowell argues, was the same justification of our invasions of other countries – McKinley's decision to invade the Philippines, Kennedy's decision to send troops to Vietnam and George W. Bush's decision to invade Iraq.

I have been listening to the audio version of the book, which includes actors reading the parts of key history figures. Her wry sense of humor and ability to tie moments in history to pop culture never ceases to entertain me.

You can read about it more here at the Plain Dealer.

Update: Sarah Vowell will be on 90.3 on Around Noon today.