HNN Rundowns
News at Home
Christopher S. Parker It's the latest manifestation of the pseudo-conservative paranoid style in American politics. And here's the statistical proof. Tags: Tea Party, Richard Hofstadter, paranoid style, John Birch Society |
Why is Our Government Prosecuting Whistleblowers?William J. Astore What happens when the White House becomes the Kremlin? Tags: Barack Obama, federal government, United States, whistleblowers |
News Abroad
Pray the Way I DoSteve Hochstadt A scandal in Israel: Women praying at the Wailing Wall. Tags: Israel, Judaism, prayers, Wailing Wall |
Terrorism in the WorkplaceDavid Patten Don't mourn the dead in Dhaka -- organize. Tags: Bangladesh, labor, safety, unions |
Happy Birthday, Kosovo!Ian Reifowitz Serbia and Kosovo have signed an historic agreement to end two decades of conflict. Tags: civilization, EU, Kosovo, Serbia |
Historians & History
Robin Lindley Ira Katznelson on the New Deal in the age of Roosevelt and Truman. Tags: Ira Katznelson, New Deal, racism, South |
Marc Lendler: "Every Idea is an Incitement..."Aaron Leonard Marc Lendler on the continuing relevance of Gitlow v. New York, the landmark free speech trial from the Red Scare. Tags: free speech, Gitlow v. New York, Marc Lendler, Red Scare |
Why Historians' Memoirs are So Valuable James M. Banner, Jr. John Elliott's new memoir is a must-read to understand the practice of history over the past sixty years. Tags: John Elliott, memoirs, Spain, Weekly Standard |
Thomas Jefferson's NightmareThomas Fleming The specter of a slave revolt haunted the South until the outbreak of the Civil War. Tags: Civil War, Haiti, slavery, Thomas Jefferson |
Republicans Should Like IkeKeith W. Olson His example offers the party a way forward. Tags: Dwight D. Eisenhower, GOP, Republican Party, Tea Party |
Books
Review of James Patterson's The Eve of DestructionJeffrey Aaron Snyder Did 1965 really change America? Tags: 1965, books, Eve of Destruction, James Patterson |
Review of Jill Lepore’s The Story of AmericaLuther Spoehr A worthy successor to the tradition of Richard Hofstadter. Tags: books, Jill Lepore, Luther Spoehr, The Story of America |
Up Front
The Politics of Mother's DayRebecca Jo Plant The originator of Mother's Day would be appalled by the commercialization of a "holy" day. Tags: Mother's Day, radicalism, Anna Jarvis, commercialism |
HNN Book of the Month: Sensing the Past by Jim CullenTags: books, Book of the Month, Jim Cullen, Sensing the Past |
News at Home
The NYT Ignores USDA DiscriminationPete Daniel The USDA discriminated against minority farmers for decades, but critics of the repayments program seek to rewrite history, and the Grey Lady is helping. Tags: Pigford v. Glickman, discrimination, NYT, USDA |
News Abroad
And Then There Was OneTom Engelhardt Imperial gigantism and the decline of planet Earth. Tags: climate change, empire, Soviet Union, United States |
Yet Another Reason Afghanistan is Like VietnamJeremy Kuzmarov U.S.-fueled corruption based on heroin a staple of both Vietnam and Afghanistan. Tags: CIA, Hamid Karzai, heroin, Vietnam |
Keeping Him Upright...Josh Brown's Life During Wartime Tags: Life During Wartime, Hamid Karzai, corruption, drones |
Historians & History
Trashing Keynes for Being Gay is Nothing NewDavid Austin Walsh Niall Ferguson says J.M. Keynes's theories are flawed because he was gay. This argument is surprisingly common amongst conservatives. Tags: economics, homosexuality, John Maynard Keynes, Niall Ferguson |
Getting Beyond the "Clash of Civilizations"David Cannadine Samuel Huntington's famous thesis appeals to pundits, but it ignores the nuances of history. Tags: clash of civilizations, global history, Islam, Samuel P. Huntington |
May 8: Victory in Europe DayRobert Huddleston Celebrating the final triumph over Nazism with a personal story of the last days of World War II. Tags: fighters, He 162, planes, VE Day |
Thomas Fleming The first president wanted to end slavery, but preserving the Union was more important. Tags: American Revolution, Civil War, George Washington, slavery |
Wallace A. Hettle An open letter on breaking up with Stonewall Jackson. Tags: Chancellorsville, Civil War, Confederacy, Stonewall Jackson |
Philosophy Matters, Because When It Goes Wrong...Yvonne Sherratt Philosophers are an oft-ridiculed bunch, but philosophy is dangerous in the wrong hands. Like the Nazis. Tags: democracy, humanities, Nazism, philosophy |
No Kinky Porn, Please -- We're EnglishRobin Lindley Julie Peakman's research on eighteenth-century English erotica reveals a surprisingly vanilla attitude to sex. Tags: England, erotica, interviews, pornography |
Education
The Problem with School "Accountability"Robert L. Urzillo The education reform movement's obsession with metrics ignores other factors. Tags: education, education reform, teaching, tests |
Culture Watch
Play Ball, JackieSteve Hochstadt How Jackie Robinson captured the heart of Jewish Brooklyn. Tags: 42, African American history, baseball, Jackie Robinson |
A Loving Trip Back to a Different AmericaBruce Chadwick A Trip to Bountiful serves a healthy dose of nostalgia. Tags: 1947, plays, Texas, theater reviews |
Who are You Calling Nancy Boy?Bruce Chadwick Nathan Lane is a delight in The Nance, the story of 1930s Broadway camp. Tags: Nathan Lane, plays, The Nance, theater reviews |
Books
Review of Michael J. Gerhardt's The Forgotten PresidentsJim Cullen A dry book for dry presidents, but useful nonetheless. Tags: executive branch, Forgotten Presidents, Jim Cullen, Michael J. Gerhardt |
Review of Edward Achorn's The Summer of Beer and WhiskeyMurray Polner How an unscrupulous German tavernkeeper made baseball America's pastime. Tags: baseball, beer, Missouri, St. Louis |
Up Front
American Heritage Magazine Temporarily Suspends PublicationDavid Austin Walsh The publisher is retooling the organization to focus on education. Tags: American Heritage, history, magazines, publishing |
Redressing Wikipedia's Historical Gender and Racial GapFatima Ahmed-Farouta Good luck finding entries on non-Western women... but Roopika Risam and Adeline Koh are on it. Tags: gender, postcolonialism, Rewriting Wikipedia Project, Wikipedia |
The Black Russian and the JewsVladimir Alexandrov The strange saga of Frederick Bruce Thomas, the African American-turned-Russian businessman. Tags: Black Russian, George Frederick Thomas, Russian Jews, World War I |
News at Home
Liberals: Stop Making Excuses for ObamaMary L. Dudziak It wasn't the filibuster that kept Gitmo open or institutionalized targeted killings. Tags: Barack Obama, liberals, progressives, accountability |
Time Again for Repayable Taxes?Robert E. Wright The Romans, Italians, and the Dutch have pegged high tax rates to economic growth -- why can't we? Tags: Netherlands, repayable taxes, taxes, fiscal policy |
Seeking the Good DeathEmily K. Abel Lessons from nineteenth-century health care on how to attend to the dying. Tags: death, dying, health care, medicine |
Historians Still Despise George W. BushDavid Austin Walsh A new HNN poll shows that the former president remains a failure in the eyes of historians. Tags: George W. Bush, historians, presidential legacies, presidential rankings |
Is the Press Too Big to Fail?Todd Gitlin It’s dumb journalism, stupid. Tags: media, newspapers, press, journalism |
News Abroad
Jesus and MuhammadJuan Cole Islam is not an inherently violent religon. Tags: Christianity, Islam, Jesus, Muhammad |
Historians & History
Remembering "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"Randal Maurice Jelks Just like the biblical epistles, MLK's most famous piece of writing was carefully edited. Tags: "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", Martin Luther King, MLK, civil rights movement |
The History of the World Keeps Changing. Literally.Odd Arne Westad How John M. Roberts's classic History of the World was updated for a new generation. Tags: History of the World, John Roberts (historian), revisions, world history |
Culture Watch
How Accurate is "42"?Ron Briley The latest Jackie Robinson biopic may be a great baseball movie, but not great history. Tags: 42, baseball, Hollywood, Jackie Robinson |
Books
Review of Andrei Lankov's The Real North KoreaDavid Austin Walsh Andrei Lankov brings perspective to the failed Stalinist monarchy as only a former Soviet citizen can. Tags: Andrei Lankov, North Korea, Stalinism, The Real North Korea |
Review of Ron Reagan's My Father at 100Bernard von Bothmer An affectionate, engaging, and useful biography of the fortieth president. Tags: "book reviews, "presidents, "Ron Reagan, "Ronald Reagan |
Up Front
Historians Still Despise George W. BushDavid Austin Walsh A new HNN poll shows that the former president remains a failure in the eyes of historians. Tags: George W. Bush, historians, presidential legacies, presidential rankings |
On Topic: Boston Marathon Bombing
Murder! Madness! Terror!Walter Laqueur Sports events are supposed to be places of peaceful competition, but terrorists have been targeting games for years. Tags: sports, anarchism, Boston Marathon bombing, terrorism |
No, Senator Graham, Domestic Drones are NOT a Good IdeaDaniel Martin Varisco “It sure would be nice to have a drone up there...” is a sentiment more fitting for Big Brother than a U.S. senator. Tags: Boston Marathon bombing, drones, gun control, Lindsay Graham |
Don't Let the Boston Bombing Roll Back the Rights of ImmigrantsElliott Young The U.S. needs to embrace the ethics of universal human rights. Tags: immigration reform, citizenship, human rights, immigrants |
The Ideology Behind the Boston Marathon BombingTimothy R. Furnish Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev may have acted alone, but they drew inspiration from a heady Islamist cocktail. Tags: Boston Marathon bombing, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Islamism, Tamerlan Tsarnaev |
Terror in Boston: It's About Guns, Not BombsRobert Brent Toplin Would reasonable background checks have prevented the Boston bombing? Tags: Boston Marathon bombing, gun control, guns, terrorism |
Historians React to Chaos in BostonTags: Boston Marathon bombing, historians, Storify, Twitter |
On Topic: Chechnya
Who Are The Chechens?Brian Glyn Williams A highland people from the Caucasus are now the focus of America's attention. Tags: Boston Marathon bombing, Chechen history, Chechnya, terrorism |
Chechnya: What You Need to KnowDavid R. Stone Since Russia's victory in the Second Chechen War, Chechen terrorism has been motivated less by nationalism and more by jihadism. Tags: Boston Marathon bombing, Chechen Wars, Chechnya, Russia |
A Brief History of Chechen TerrorismThomas R. Mockaitis The 2010 Moscow Metro bombing and the 2011 Moscow airport bombing killed 40 and 37 people, respectively -- and those are just the most recent attacks in Moscow alone. Tags: Chechnya, Chechen terrorism, terrorism, Russia |
Russia, Stalin's Crimes, and GenocideNorman M. Naimark In 1944, the Soviet dictator signed orders to deport the entire Chechen nation to Central Asia. Tags: genocide, Joseph Stalin, Russia, Soviet Union |
Russia's Forgotten Caucasian GenocideWalt Richmond The Chechens aren't the only Caucasian people with longstanding greviances against Moscow. Tags: Circassia, genocide, Russia, Russian Empire |
OAH Annual Meeting
Highlights from the 2013 OAH Annual MeetingTags: annual meetings, OAH 2013, San Francisco |
Tough Times to Be Lobbying for History on Capitol HillDavid Austin Walsh Lee White is fighting the good fight for history in the halls of Congress, but is anybody listening? Tags: budgets, Capitol Hill, Lee White, National Coalition for History |
HNN Teacher's Edition: For Grade School
HNN’s Teacher’s Edition is designed to help busy teachers build classes around topics in the news. With just a few minutes preparation, teachers will be able to teach a class on current events, even if they haven't been in a position to follow the news closely.
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News at Home
The Senate's Shameful Lack of Courage on GunsWalter G. Moss John F. Kennedy would be embarrassed by the performance of the "world's greatest deliberative body" in the gun control debate. Tags: gun control, guns, John F. Kennedy, U.S. Senate |
News Abroad
Filling the Empty BattlefieldTom Engelhardt Jeremy Scahill, blowback reporter. Tags: Boston Marathon bombing, George W. Bush, Jeremy Scahill, war on terror |
Arms: That’s Where the Money GoesLawrence S. Wittner The F-35 alone will cost $1.5 trillion. Tags: arms trade, defense spending, F-35, Pentagon |
Why the Brits -- But Not the Yanks -- Quarreled over Thatcher's FinaleGil Troy Presidents tend to be shielded from the level of vitriol shown for Britain's Iron Lady. Tags: Margaret Thatcher, United Kingdom, Ronald Reagan, presidents |
History & Historians
"Cities are the Living Embodiments of Past Decisions"Robin Lindley Interview with University of Washington historian Margaret O'Mara on her innovative urban digital history curriculum, designed for undergrads. Tags: digital humanities, Margaret O'Mara, Seattle, urban history |
Books
Review of Alex Sayf Cummings's Democracy of SoundJim Cullen Making a usable history of music copyright. Tags: Alex Sayf Cummings, bootlegging, copyright, Democracy of Sound |
Murray Polner How the U.S. gave a free pass to all too many Nazi war criminals. Tags: CIA, Nazis, Richard Rashke, war criminals |
















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