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History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

Roundup Top 10!


Pop Culture Roundup: This Week

This week ... A new American Experience show on the Berlin Olympics of 1936, "Free State of Jones," "Angels in America," and lots more!


Social Media News: This Week

This week ... Annette Gordon-Reed, Rick Perlstein, Kevin Kruse, Ron Radosh and more.


Crazy, Fascinating & Horrifying: Latest Edition

Jack Daniels secret, the Nazi Amelia Earhart, Hitler's daughter, and more.


The Racist Origins of the SAT

by Gil Troy

While it unintentionally aided the disadvantaged in its earlier forms, the SAT was the fruit of a very poisonous tree.


A Hater for All Seasons

by Garry Wills

There was something almost mystical about the past year of Donald Trump. How can one man can be such a shape shifter?


Opening the Door to a Conservative Court

by Jeff Shesol

A new book by Michael J. Graetz and Linda Greenhouse argues that the Burger Court advanced the conservative agenda by eroding the rights the Warren Court had established.


How to Steal an Election

by Jill Lepore

The crazy history of nominating Conventions.


Where Conservative Ideas Come From

by Timothy Shenk

A generation ago, explaining the power of the American right seemed an essential task for anyone seeking to understand the headlines. Recent events suggest that scholars should adopt a more skeptical attitude toward the image presented by the self-appointed gatekeepers of True Conservatism.


Populism wasn’t about making the system efficient

by Barry C. Lynn and Phillip Longman

What populists cared about was making democracy work.


Muhammad Ali’s real legacy: From fanaticism to tolerance

by Jonathan Zimmerman

Ali transformed from a bigot in his younger days to a messenger of peace.


The Age of Disintegration

by Patrick Cockburn

Neoliberalism, Interventionism, the Resource Curse, and a Fragmenting World


American colonialism persists in Puerto Rico

by Margaret Power

In a letter to the editor, historian Margaret Power complains that the Chicago Tribune missed a chance to explain Puerto Rico’s status.


All the president’s friends: A history of close presidential allies, from Lincoln to Nixon to Trump

by Charles B. Strozier

What can we learn about our presidents from the people they were closest to?