• star_wraith [he/him]
    ·
    edit-2
    4 years ago

    I irrationally hate Applebaum. Yes, because of all the bullshit red scare propaganda she spews, of course. But it's also because I cannot stand journalists with zero academic credentials who insist on being called a "historian" like she does. Note that whenever she writes an article or she goes on TV, it says "historian Anne Applebaum". So when the reader/viewer hears what she says about the Soviet Union, they think "well this is a pro, she must know what she's talking about."

    Except Applebaum is definitely not a historian. She doesn't have any degrees in history, she got hers in journalism. This is really important because folks who get PhDs in history learn really valuable tools for how to conduct historical research. If she had any of those tools, maybe she'd learn not to trust what Ukrainian Nazis and only Ukrainian Nazis have to say about a famine. But she swings around that "historian" title because she knows it buys her clout. It's fucking stolen valor except for history.

    At least someone like Dan Carlin, who is a good egg and honest person unlike Applebaum, insists on NOT being called a historian even though he does a super popular podcast about history. He'll insist that no, he's a journalist and his approach to history is entirely different.

    • Sealand_macronation [none/use name]
      ·
      4 years ago

      journalists with zero academic credentials who insist on being called a “historian”

      Applebaum is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.[65] She is on the board of the National Endowment for Democracy and Renew Democracy Initiative.[66][67] She was a member of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting's International Board of Directors.[68] She was a Senior Adjunct Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) where she co-led a major initiative aimed at countering Russian disinformation in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).[69] She was on the editorial board for The American Interest[70] and the Journal of Democracy.[71]

      CIA reptiles mad

    • snackage [he/him]
      ·
      4 years ago

      I irrationally hate Applebaum

      I feel so seen. I just made the same comment