Historians in the News

This page features brief excerpts of stories published by the mainstream media and, less frequently, blogs, alternative media, and even obviously biased sources. The excerpts are taken directly from the websites cited in each source note. Quotation marks are not used.

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• SOURCE: Guardian
  1/17/19
  

  Was Eric Hobsbawm a dangerous Communist?

  He was branded a Stalinist, and was spied on for decades by MI5, but was the famous historian a hardliner and renegade? His private papers tell a different story.

• 
• SOURCE: New York Magazine
  1/17/19
  

  Who Is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Like in American History? Historians Weigh In

  We asked three experts a simple question: Who does Ocasio-Cortez remind you of most strongly in American political history?

• 
• SOURCE: Pacific Standard
  1/16/19
  

  Jessica Wilkerson: If We Forget Appalachia's Radical History, We Will Misunderstand Its Future

  In her new book, Jessica Wilkerson tells the stories of the radical mountain women who fought against bosses and laid the groundwork for ensuing generations of Appalachian resistance.

• 
• SOURCE: Stanford News
  1/15/19
  

  Stanford Professor Emeritus Harold Kahn, who specialized in Chinese history, dead at 88

  Harold L. Kahn, a professor emeritus who helped create a generation of leading U.S. scholars in Chinese and Japanese history, died on Dec. 11.

• 
• SOURCE: The Paris Review
  1/15/19
  

  A Lost Piece of Trans History

  The recent republication of The Third Sex by the Bibliothek rosa Winkel revives lost voices from Germany’s queer past and recovers a remarkable piece of trans history.

• 
• SOURCE: NBC News
  1/15/19
  

  New Teacher's Guide on "Comfort Women" To Be Distributed Across California Schools

  The debate around teaching this history has been controversial. 

• 
• SOURCE: Telegraph
  1/15/19
  

  Women used to grow whiskers for bizarre 19th century trend, historian discovers

  Whiskers were so popular in the 19th century that even women wanted to grow sideburns.

• 
• SOURCE: Fox News
  1/15/19
  

  Wife of historian imprisoned in Iran speaks out: ‘His only crime is he's American’

  “He is not a spy,” Hua Qu said. “He's just a history nerd.”

• 
• SOURCE: In Style
  1/14/19
  

  Doris Kearns Goodwin Profiled: It is a Wild Time to Be a Presidential Historian

  As the foremost expert on U.S. presidents and their peccadilloes, Doris Kearns Goodwin thinks we could learn a thing or two from the past.

• 
• SOURCE: Truth Dig
  1/11/10
  

  New Edition of "Lies My Teacher Told Me" Receives Praise

  A great summary of the new addition of James Loewen's classic.

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  1/12/19
  

  John Salter Jr., demonstrator in 1963 Mississippi lunch-counter sit-in and professor, dies at 84

  Mr. Salter — as he was known throughout his career as an activist and academic — died Jan. 7 at his home in Pocatello, Idaho, at age 84.

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  1/13/19
  

  Leo Ribuffo's Obituary Appears in the Washington Post

  “Irascible, brilliant and deeply learned, Ribuffo argued that America’s anti-liberal traditions were far more deeply rooted in the past, and far angrier than most historians would acknowledge."

• 
• SOURCE: Time
  1/11/19
  

  Historian Lucy Worsley on Royal Weddings, Queen Victoria and the 'Big Mistake' People Make About the Past

  And why she loves writing biographies. 

• 
• SOURCE: Voice of America
  1/11/19
  

  Historian Susan Schulten on How Maps Provide a Special View of American History

  Early maps helped establish a national identity and loyalty for the United States in its early days.

• 
• SOURCE: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
  1/11/19
  

  Historian Keri Leigh Merritt On Poverty and Privilege

  And how our personal lives often intersect with our scholarly work. 

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  1/13/19
  

  Lamin Sanneh, pioneering historian who studied Christianity’s spread, dies at 76

  The author or editor of 20 books and more than 200 scholarly articles, he focused primarily on Christian missions and missionaries, and on the church’s development into a diverse, international religion.

• 
• SOURCE: Forbes
  1/10/19
  

  Using 'Big Data' And AI To Understand The Patterns Of Our History And Tell Us About Our Future

  Data allows us to see the world in ways we’ve never dreamed about, transforming piles of numbers into visualizations that help us understand the world around us.

• 
• SOURCE: CNN
  1/9/19
  

  'The Dictator's Playbook' looks at history, with an eye on today

  The PBS documentary series provides modern-day resonance -- a guide to tyrants of the past, conveying lessons on how those tactics can be employed in the present.

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  1/9/19
  

  Civil War expert Kevin M. Levin objected to journalist Paul Duggan's profile of a neo-Confederate. Duggan called Levin to discuss his critique.

  by Paul Duggan

  With so many fresh voices eager to be heard, Levin told Duggan, old-timers like the neo-Confederate profiled belong in the dust bin.

• 
• SOURCE: Rolling Stone
  1/7/19
  

  How Historian Jill Lepore Found a Whole New Story to Tell About American History

  The Harvard historian on her opus ‘These Truths,’ the Me Too movement, and Trump’s cartoon version of populism