Current Events that Relate to History
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RetrievalA 168-Year-Old Question Still Worth Asking
A forceful 19th-century essay on the rise of the slaveholding oligarchy asked: “Where will it end?”The Atlantic -
Book ExcerptWhat Is Rustin’s Challenge?
A new book features Bayard Rustin's essays and contemporary reflections on what today's Left can learn from his work.Damage -
CommentHow Elite Colleges Aided Censorship During the Red Scares
Powerful organizations during the Red Scares crafted a world where “academic freedom” was conditional on political allegiance.Inside Higher Ed -
Book ExcerptHow the NY Post and the NY Daily News Turned Victims Into Criminals
The role of tabloid journalism in shaping the racist narrative of the 1984 Bernie Goetz subway shooting.Literary Hub -
CommentAfter the Earthquakes
The fundamental problem of the present is complicity.Equator -
Book ReviewLucky Corner
How Fiorello La Guardia and a popular front of radicals and reformers transformed New York City.The Nation -
exhibitPresident Precedents
How Americans understand the powers of the office and the legacies of past leaders.
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.