Current Events that Relate to History
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Book ExcerptWhat Actually Changed in 1776
The most consequential shift that year was not one of battle lines but of ideology.The Atlantic -
Argument
The Progress Paradox
Neoliberals long preached that markets and technology reinforce each other. In reality, when one develops, the other tends to stagnate.Noema -
RetrievalHow the US Intervened to Sabotage Angola’s Independence
Fifty years ago today, Angola gained its independence from Portuguese domination. But the US was already working hard to snuff out the hopes of liberation.Jacobin -
Book ExcerptMore Than James Brown’s Drummer: Clyde Stubblefield, An Unsung Pioneer of R&B
On the enduring influence of one of the genre's most iconic drum riffs.Literary Hub -
Book ReviewSpeculation in Human Property
The survival of slave trading during the Civil War suggests that enslaved people remained valuable commodities in a time of economic upheaval.New York Review of Books -
CommentConscription for Peace
William James’s ‘moral equivalent of war’ a hundred years later.Commonweal -
exhibitOn Drugs
Histories of the way those in power have attempted to regulate the flow of drugs, and of the impacts the impacts of those decisions on Americans’ lives.
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. -
If the Slipper Doesn’t Fit
A scorched shoe is a crucial part of Zelda Fitzgerald’s modern mythology. But there’s no proof it existed. -
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. -
Slamming America’s Door Behind Him
How a son of European immigrants fought to keep Indian immigrants out of America. -
Governing by Police
The Metropolitan Police Department in DC has been an essential component of Washington politics since its founding. -
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.