Current Events that Relate to History
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ObituaryCheney’s Last Laugh
For many, Dick Cheney epitomized idealistic foreign policy hubris.Compact -
LongreadWe Used to Read Things in This Country
Technology changes us—and it is currently changing us for the worse.The Baffler -
Book ReviewThe Man Who Rescued Faulkner
How the critic Malcolm Cowley made American literature into its own great tradition.The Atlantic -
RetrievalThis Whole Thing Really Snuck Up On Us
Looking back, and ahead, on the anniversary of a White House warning.Gravity Is Gone -
ComparisonZohran Mamdani, John Lindsay, and the Specter of "Kahanism" in 2025 America
What does 1968 have to do with 2025?Shaul's Substack -
Book ReviewWhat Makes Cities Go BANANA?
New York City NIMBYism, restrictive zoning, and Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson’s "Abundance."Public Seminar -
exhibitSocial Safety Net
How Americans through the years have approached the thorny questions of identifying who the government is obliged to help and how such assistance should be funded and distributed.
From the HNN Archive
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How to Succeed in Government Without Really Trying
The long history of promising an “efficient” federal government. -
If the Slipper Doesn’t Fit
A scorched shoe is a crucial part of Zelda Fitzgerald’s modern mythology. But there’s no proof it existed. -
Indifferent to the Fate of Freedom Elsewhere
Jimmy Carter is known for his defense of human rights worldwide. But in 1979, he threatened to deport thousands of Iranian student protesters. -
Elevating the Few
What JD Vance excludes from the history of the Civil War and immigration. -
Whose Side Are College Administrators On?
There’s a long history of politicians targeting student protesters — and of campus leaders abetting those efforts. -
Solve for AI
What the history of the pocket calculator reveals about the future of AI in classrooms. -
“At Any Future Time”
In 1880, the daughter of a Welsh politician turned to fiction to expose perspectives missing from the official record, upending histories for generations to come. -
Slamming America’s Door Behind Him
How a son of European immigrants fought to keep Indian immigrants out of America. -
Governing by Police
The Metropolitan Police Department in DC has been an essential component of Washington politics since its founding. -
When Good Housekeeping Meant Getting Vaccinated Against Polio
The pages of 1950s lifestyle magazines offer a glimpse of a time when childhood vaccines were anything but controversial.