Current Events that Relate to History
Recently Published
View AllOriginal features and excerpts of new books
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Features
AI Is an Anti-Primary Source Machine
Real voices from the past are threatened by chatbots designed to amplify — and ultimately become — the loudest voices in the room. -
Features
Regime Change
A coin featuring the likeness of President Trump doesn’t have many precedents in American history. The ancient Roman opponents of Julius Caesar could explain why. -
Features
How “History” Became Central at the Supreme Court
Originalists and historians use the past to accomplish very different tasks.
In the Newsletter
View All EditionsCurated collections that explore a different theme each week
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ProfileJohnny Cash, Prison Abolitionist
The late country singer had a far more clear-eyed understanding of the horrors of incarceration than some of today’s “leftists.”Current Affairs -
ArgumentWhy the Internet Needs a Memory
Publishers have every right to challenge businesses that exploit their work—but the Wayback Machine has become collateral damage.The Atlantic -
Book ReviewWhither American Socialism?
Since the time of Eugene V. Debs, socialists have struggled to persuade Americans that they could create a more just society.New York Review of Books -
ComparisonA Farewell to Comms
How does the five-day tenure of White House press secretary Katie Zacharia rank in presidential history?Study Marry Kill -
Book ReviewAmerican Metamorphoses
Placing Indigenous visions of personhood in the history of the Americas.Public Books -
ExplainerGarbage, Trash, and Slop
The aesthetics of bad art.Imperialist Realism -
exhibitNative Pasts
This exhibit showcases the cultural, political, and environmental histories of American Indians, from ancient civilizations to contemporary activism.