Current Events that Relate to History
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Book ReviewThe Enigma of Clint Eastwood
Is he merely a reactionary, or do his films paint a more complicated picture?The Nation -
Book ReviewHow American Tech Made China an Economic Superpower
"Apple in China" tells the incredible story of China’s industrial development through the lens of America’s most iconic tech giant.Damage -
Book ReviewConservatism’s Baton Twirler
A Republican administration that wages war against immigrants and colleges should be understood as the culmination of William F. Buckley conservative movement.New York Review of Books -
ExplainerGun Culture Then and Now
Firearm ownership meant something very different when the United States was founded.Vital City -
RetrievalNo Way Out
In broadcasting, the Red Scare turned into a stupid hall of mirrors.Continuous Wave -
ComparisonFusionism Has Never Worked. Democrats Keep Trying Anyway.
Mamdani’s NYC mayoral rise revives debates over Democratic fusionism, echoing 1890s Populist struggles with establishment power.Dame Magazine -
exhibitEpidemic Proportions
How Americans have understood epidemics, from the Columbian Exchange to COVID-19.
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. -
So Ductile Is History in the Hands of Man!
The past and present of counterfactual history, from antiquity to the Napoleonic Wars to a few very active subreddits. -
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. -
Letting the World Scream
In 1984, the U.S. rejected the International Court of Justice’s jurisdiction, revealing its tendency to ignore international rules it sees as unfavorable — even when it helped write them. -
Scared Out of the Community
Between 1929 and 1939 approximately half a million Mexicans left the United States. Many of the departing families included American-born children to whom Mexico, not the United States, was the foreign land. -
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.