Current Events that Relate to History
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CommentTrump’s Reckless Assault on Remembrance
The attempts by his administration to control the ways Americans engage with our nation’s history threaten to weaken patriotism, not strengthen it.The New Republic -
CommentThe Crisis of the University Started Long Before Trump
The financial crisis of the University of Chicago sheds light on the forces that are "corroding ideals, and wasting money" throughout American higher education.Compact -
Book ReviewSpooking the Censors
In the 1950s, the CIA funded efforts to smuggle great works of literature into the Eastern Bloc.Los Angeles Review of Books -
Book ExcerptEric Foner’s Personal History
Reflecting on his decades-long career, the historian considers what his field of study owes to the public.The Nation -
EtymologyWhat Does ‘Genius’ Really Mean?
Humans have long tried to understand a quicksilver quality that defies explanation.The Atlantic -
RetrievalHow Chicago's Division Street Rebellion Brought Latinos Together
In 1966, police shot a young Puerto Rican man. What followed created a blueprint for a new kind of solidarity.Zócalo Public Square -
exhibitThe Soviets and US
The contours and legacies of the most consequential political rivalry of the 20th century.
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. -
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.