Current Events that Relate to History
-
Book ReviewPipe Hitters
American special operators brought their tactics in the global war on terror back home.The Baffler -
ProfileWhen Trump's Brain Broke
Donald Trump seems stuck in the 80s.Unpopular Front -
Book ExcerptAfter Hiroshima and Nagasaki: How Allied Media Reported on the Atomic Bombs’ Devastation
An oral history of the coverage: what the United States attempted to cover up.Literary Hub -
LongreadHow Decades of Folly Led to War in Ukraine
For decades, US hostility towards Russia and continued NATO encroachment ever further into Eastern Europe have laid the groundwork for the current crisis.Compact -
Book ReviewThe Lives and Loves of James Baldwin
Once dismissed as passé, since recast as a secular saint, Baldwin’s true message remains more unsettling than readers in either camp recognize.The New Yorker -
ProfileOne Woman’s Path to Jonestown
While the events that led to the Jonestown massacre included tragedy, the life—and death—of one of its residents offers lessons on community and resilience.JSTOR Daily -
exhibitThe Soviets and US
The contours and legacies of the most consequential political rivalry of the 20th century.
From the HNN Archive
-
How to Succeed in Government Without Really Trying
The long history of promising an “efficient” federal government. -
So Ductile Is History in the Hands of Man!
The past and present of counterfactual history, from antiquity to the Napoleonic Wars to a few very active subreddits. -
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. -
Letting the World Scream
In 1984, the U.S. rejected the International Court of Justice’s jurisdiction, revealing its tendency to ignore international rules it sees as unfavorable — even when it helped write them. -
Scared Out of the Community
Between 1929 and 1939 approximately half a million Mexicans left the United States. Many of the departing families included American-born children to whom Mexico, not the United States, was the foreign land. -
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.