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Teshuvah: A Jewish Case for Palestinian Refugee Return

by Peter Beinart

Peter Beinart argues that the history of the Jewish people and the events of 1948 compel Israeli political leaders and American and world Jewish organizations to recognize a right of return for displaced Palestinians as part of a resolution to the current crisis in East Jerusalem. 

Warming is Clearly Visible in New US ‘Climate Normal’ Datasets

by Russ Schumacher and Becky Bolinger

Meteorologists and climatologists are already starting to incorporate these new normals into our work. But when you hear the term “normal,” keep in mind that it reflects a 30-year snapshot and represents a different reality today than it did 30, 60 or 100 years ago.

Open Letter in Support of Free Inquiry and Discussion

A group of interdisciplinary scholars and foreign policy practitioners argue that a recent prospective appointee to the National Security Council has been treated unfairly for challenging a hardline national security consensus in regard to Russia. 

Melting Glaciers Have Exposed Frozen Relics of World War I

Melting glaciers have allowed access to a mountain barracks used by Austro-Hungarian soldiers fighting the "White War" in the Italian Alps. 

The Stealth Sticker Campaign to Expose New York’s History of Slavery

Slavers of New York is a guerilla public history project that seeks to remind New Yorkers of the ties to slavery of the families whose names are commemorated in the city's streets, parks, and other place names. 

We Found the Textbooks of Senators Who Oppose The 1619 Project and Suddenly Everything Makes Sense

"If The 1619 Project is an attempt to rewrite history, which version of history does the GOP fear is being altered?"

‘State Funeral’ Review: Saying Goodbye to Stalin

Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa’s documentary shows the aftermath of Josef Stalin's death, using footage shot at the time across the Soviet Union. 

The Ritchie Boys

Stories from members of the Ritchie Boys, a secret U.S. WWII intelligence unit bolstered by German-born Jews.

Alamo Renovation Gets Stuck over Arguments about Slavery

Renovations to the Alamo have hit a predictable political snag, as conservative Texans insist that the site maintain its denial about the slaveholding of many of the Alamo's defenders or the pro-slavery ambitions of the Republic of Texas and threaten to block bills encouraging more historically informed exhibits. 

Labor Law Is Stuck in 1947. It’s No Surprise Companies Keep Winning

The 1947 Taft-Hartley Act did what its authors hoped: tilted the balance of power back to the side of the bosses. Is momentum building for a new labor law? 

2,500 Years Ago, the Philosopher Anaxagoras Brought Science’s Spirit to Athens

2,500 years ago, Anaxagoras brought the Ionian philosophical outlook to Athens, where he helped to advance a naturalistic and empirical understanding of natural phenomena. 

‘One Oppressive Economy Begets Another’

Slavery and Jim Crow deprived Black communities in Louisiana of wealth and power, and enabled contemporary environmental racism. But slavery-era cemeteries are becoming part of efforts by those communities to fight back against polluters. 

Historians Say the Newark Museum’s Plan to Deaccession Art at Sotheby’s Will Inflict ‘Irreparable Damage’

More than 60 scholars signed a letter demanding that the museum abandon its plans to sell works from its collection to recoup pandemic losses.

FBI Releases File On Suspicions Raised About Kurt Cobain’s 1994 Death

Fans who doubted the official story that Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain's death in 1994 was a suicide had requested investigation by the FBI, which declined. 

"Abolition Is...": A Roundtable

Several young scholar/activists reflect on how historical analysis can inform the contemporary prison abolition movement and alternative approaches to justice. 

The Fallen of World War II

by Neil Halloran

On the anniversary of V-E Day, an animated video from 2015 demonstrates the human toll of war. 

The Secret Papers of Lee Atwater, Who Invented the Scurrilous Tactics That Trump Normalized

by Jane Mayer

"In many ways, his memoir suggests that Atwater’s tactics were a bridge between the old Republican Party of the Nixon era, when dirty tricks were considered a scandal, and the new Republican Party of Donald Trump, in which lies, racial fearmongering, and winning at any cost have become normalized."

The GOP’s ‘Critical Race Theory’ Obsession

by Adam Harris

Republicans have introduced state legislation to ban approaches to social studies education that include attention to racism. They claim to seek to protect students against a scourge they call "critical race theory" but in general have no idea what that term means. 

Some Statues Tell Lies. This One Tells the Truth

Washington State has replaced one of its statues in the US Capitol Statuary hall, that celebrated missionary Marcus Whitman, with one honoring Native American treaty rights advocate Billy Frank, Jr. 

A New Deal, This Time for Everyone

The New Deal emphasized that American democracy must be healthy for its economy to enjoy legitimacy, and vice versa. It's time, says NYT editor Binyamin Appelbaum, to extend that commitment to the economic participation of women.