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History News Network

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Roundup Top 10!

The government effort to make FOIA “as bad as possible”

by Nate Jones

The Department of Justice's historical effort to weaken the Freedom Of Information Act and why Congress must strengthen the law.

Why the College-Admissions Scandal Is So Absurd

by Alia Wong

For the parents charged in a new FBI investigation, crime was a cheaper and simpler way to get their kids into elite schools than the typical advantages wealthy applicants receive.

The real history of women wouldn’t look quite so nice on a tote bag

by Laurie Penny

“Empowerment” has always been more palatable and easier to sell than the idea of women simply taking power, and it’s more cheerful than the reality that plenty of women’s history has been defined as much by frustration and pain as by perky self-actualization.

How presidential empathy can improve politics

by Jeremi Suri

The legacy of FDR and his fireside chats.

The Black Gun Owner Next Door

by Tiya Miles

I’m an African-American historian and, on most issues, decidedly liberal. Could I rethink my anti-gun stance?

America’s Long History of Hysteria about Women’s Veils: Jeanine Pirro and Ilhan Omar

by Juan Cole

In fact, nothing is more American historically than veiling and debates on veiling.

The Case for Reparations

by David Brooks

A slow convert to the cause.

What's Behind the Lamentations Over History?

by James Grossman

Max Boot’s questions imply change over time. But we can’t know why something has declined if we don’t know what conditions have changed.

Getting the Right History vs. Getting the History Right

by L.D. Burnett

An excellent summary of recent popular critiques of historians--and a rebuttal.

 

Woodrow Wilson and ‘the Ugliest of Treacheries’

by Erez Manela

After World War I, America was supposed to lead the fight against colonialism. What happened?