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Roundup Top 10!


Pop Culture Roundup: This Week

This Edition: Movies about Ben Hur, the attack on the Pentagon, JFK and Jackie, and much more!


Abraham Lincoln Would Have Recognized the Con Man Trump

by Sidney Blumenthal

Lincoln knew the difference between the motives of the promoter's "humbug" and the demagogue's "false accusations."


The Strange Bedfellows of U. S.–Iranian Animosity

by Mansour Farhang

Right-wing politicians in America, including Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Paul Ryan, are echoing the views of the Revolutionary Guards. This is an old story.


The Irony of 'Hamilton' Creator Lin-Manuel Miranda's Advocacy For Puerto Rico

by Matt Peppe

The problem with Miranda's reading of history is that he assumes the liberal notion of a united nation, devoted to the common goals of freedom and equality, was any more real 225 years ago than it is today.


Why Historical Thinking Is Not About History

by Sam Wineburg

An adaptation of Sam Wineburg’s keynote address to the 2015 AASLH annual meeting in Louisville.


Everyone was a liberal

by Lawrence Glickman

On the Left, ‘neoliberal’ is an epithet but, not long ago, everyone wanted to be liberal. Will anyone claim liberalism?


Is the U.S. Due for Radically Raising Taxes for the Rich?

by Alana Semuels

That’s what has usually happened whenever a large proportion of Americans have been upset with the distribution of their country’s wealth.


Top 7 Reasons the US could not have forestalled Syrian Civil War

by Juan Cole

Americans are practical people and they incorrectly believe that all problems have relatively simple solutions.


Postscript to “Is Donald Trump a Fascist?”

by Jeffrey Herf

Trump understands what the classic demagogues of the 20th century understood: namely, that in a democracy it is possible to gain millions of votes by appealing to the worst in people.


Back to the Future: Can Trump Win with Law and Order Like Nixon in 1968?

by Michael W. Flamm

Republican Richard M. Nixon narrowly managed to win the 1968 presidential election by exploiting the issue of law and order amid a climate of fear and insecurity.


Europe Under Siege

by Jamie Tarabay

The IRA. Basque separatists. Black September. And now, ISIS. Can Europe use the lessons of the past to defeat the terror of today?


Clinton-Kaine echoes history: A new chapter in epic N.Y.-Virginia relationship

by Manisha Sinha

The political alliance Clinton-Kaine represents is as old as the American Republic itself: The Empire State and the Commonwealth of Virginia have played starring roles in American history since the country’s founding.


The Despair of Poor White Americans

by Alec MacGillis and ProPublica

A white lower class not only figured more prominently in the development of the colonies and the young country than national lore suggests, but was spoken of from the start explicitly in terms of waste and refuse.