Current Events that Relate to History
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CommentThe Once and Future Deportation Flight?
78 years ago, a US plane deporting 28 Mexican nationals crashed into California’s Los Gatos Canyon, killing all aboard.Public Books -
ArgumentInto the Abyss
The correct response to Dachau was not better training for the guards.Degenerate Art -
CommentWelcome to the Jade Helm Presidency
Conservatives once panicked about a supposed federal plot to invade their communities and quash dissent. Now they’re cheering it.The Intercept -
ArgumentHistorians Have a Duty to Condemn Scholasticide in Gaza
Leaders of the American Historical Association overruled a motion to condemn scholasticide in Gaza, opting for cowardice over ethical clarity.Jacobin -
Book ExcerptThe Day Bernie Goetz Shot Four Unarmed Teenagers on the Subway
Chronicling the vigilante crime that shook 1980s New York City.Literary Hub -
DispatchThose Who Try to Erase History Will Fail
Montgomery shows what’s possible when museums aren’t subject to capricious executive orders.The Atlantic -
exhibitFederal Bureaucracy
The federal government is the nation’s biggest employer. To many, its size is a problem in itself. This exhibit asks: how big is too big, and what do we miss when we focus on size alone?
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.