ethics — Bunk History

Supreme Court justices William O. Douglas, Felix Frankfurter, and Owen J. Roberts at the White House.

FDR’s Compliant Justices

The Supreme Court’s deference to FDR during World War II resulted in unjustifiable ethical breaches.

by Jed S. Rakoff via New York Review of Books on November 14, 2024

Painting of Washington and the Continental Army in winter.

Congressional Conflict of Interest

A foundational flaw of the United States.

by Larry Deblinger via Arc Digital on June 22, 2023

Portrait photo of Geronimo in European style clothing, holding a bow and arrow, 1904.

Ambushing Geronimo

An introduction to salvage anthropology.

by Samuel J. Redman via Lapham’s Quarterly on October 27, 2021

Photograph of Roy Cohn sitting in a wooden brown and yellow upholstered chair.

Covering for Roy Cohn

A documentary about his life and circle is a study in complicity.

by David Klion via The New Republic on September 18, 2019

Science for the People at 2017’s March for Science.

Why a Radical 1970s Science Group Is More Relevant Than Ever

A second life for an organization of scientists who questioned how their work was being used.

by Sarah Laskow via Atlas Obscura on January 22, 2018

The letters Q and A having a conversation.

The History of Advice Columns Is a History of Eavesdropping and Judging

How an Ovid-quoting London broadsheet from the late seventeenth century spawned “Dear Abby,” Dan Savage, and Reddit’s Am I the Asshole.

by Merve Emre via The New Yorker on June 16, 2025

Tamara Lanier

Harvard Relinquishes Photographs of Enslaved People in Historic Settlement

Tamara Lanier, who sued the school over daguerreotypes of her enslaved ancestors held in its museum, called the outcome “a turning point in American history.”

by Valentina Di Liscia via Hyperallergic on May 28, 2025

The all seeing eye reveals that the American flag is melting.

America’s Broken Commonwealth

The nation’s founding myth was based on faith and solidarity – but it also contained the roots of today’s democratic crisis.

by Rowan Williams via New Statesman on May 22, 2025

How Sports Betting Took Over March Madness

For decades, the NCAA vigorously opposed sports gambling. Now, March Madness is one of the most bet-on sporting events.

by Johnathan D. Cohen via Made By History on March 20, 2025

John Tower; Pete Hegseth.

In 1989, Senators Faced a Pete Hegseth Situation Very Differently

I covered the 1989 fight over George H.W. Bush's secretary of defense nominee. It feels awfully familiar.

by Fred Kaplan via Slate on January 23, 2025

Bookcover of Golden States, of people in bathing suits doing yoga.

How Dr. Bronner’s Spiritual Messaging Became a Global Brand

Dr. Bronner blends spirituality, ethical consumerism, and social activism, aiming to support both community and environmental causes through “All-One” values.

by Eileen Luhr via University Of California Press Blog on October 23, 2024

A World History Encloypedia graphic image/illustration of The Feudal Society in Medieval Europe.

American Feudalism

A liberalism that divides humanity into a master class and a slave class deserves an asterisk as “white liberalism.”

by Paul Crider via Liberal Currents on October 2, 2024

Hail Mary

In the 1970s, some athletes began questioning the alliance between sports, conservative Christianity, and politics.

by Paul Putz via Arc: Religion, Politics, Et Cetera on September 9, 2024

How “The Real World” Created Modern Reality TV

The rules governing everything from “Big Brother” to “The Real Housewives” started three decades ago, with a radical experiment on MTV.

by Emily Nussbaum via The New Yorker on June 15, 2024

Migrants being processed by the U.S. Border Patrol at a new makeshift camp after crossing the US-Mexico border.

America Turned Against Migrant Detention Before

Detaining migrants is pointless. American history proves it.

by Ana Raquel Minian via TIME on May 30, 2024

Beluga whales.

How P.T. Barnum Brought Beluga Whales to New York City

On museum ethics and animal welfare in 19th century America.

by Monica Murphy, Bill Wasik via Literary Hub on April 25, 2024

Two people look at a native artifact behind glass in a museum

Indigenous Artifacts Should Be Returned to Indigenous People

It’s time to start learning about Native history from museums and cultural centers that are run by Native nations.

by Kathleen DuVal via TIME on April 10, 2024

Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

The Wild History of “Lesser of Two Evils” Voting

For as long as Americans have been subjected to lousy candidates, they’ve been told to suck it up and vote for one of them.

by Ginny Hogan via The Nation on March 19, 2024

Four typewriters including the Nazi-built Urania model.

Why the World of Typewriter Collectors Splits Down the Middle When These Machines Come Up for Sale

In this new hobby, I found so many stories.

by Mark Lawrence Schrad via Slate on March 16, 2024

How American Intelligence Was Born in the Trenches of World War I

The Great War forced the US to create a modern spying and analysis apparatus.

by Derek Leebaert via SpyTalk on March 6, 2024

Frank Oppenheimer holding prism up to face

The Atomic Bomb, Exile and a Test of Brotherly Bonds: Robert & Frank Oppenheimer

A rift in thinking about who should control powerful new technologies sent the brothers on diverging paths.

by KC Cole via Knowable Magazine on March 5, 2024

Colorful, psychedelic illustration of three dolphins in the center with a rainbow in the sky above them and a pool, ocean, palm trees, and sky below them

Tripping on LSD at the Dolphin Research Lab

How a 1960s interspecies communication experiment went haywire.

by Benjamin Breen via The Chronicle of Higher Education on February 27, 2024

Hannah Ardent

Anatomist of Evil

Lyndsey Stonebridge’s book hurls us deeper into Hannah Arendt’s thinking, showing us that there was muddle rather than method at the heart of it.

by Stuart Jeffries via Literary Review on February 1, 2024

Chickens and eggs.

The Unending Quest To Build A Better Chicken

Maybe what we need is not just a new form of poultry farming but a complete revolution in how we relate to meat.

by Boyce Upholt via Noema on December 19, 2023

Students on a field trip threw boxes of mock tea overboard at the Boston Tea Party Museum in Boston.

The Boston Tea Party Was a Crime

Opposition to British policy was justified. Destroying 342 crates of tea worth nearly $2 million in today’s money wasn’t.

by Jeff Jacoby via Boston Globe Magazine on December 14, 2023

Operatives using air defense systems.

The Two Chomskys

The US military’s greatest enemy worked in an institution saturated with military funding. How did it shape his thought?

by Chris Knight via Aeon on December 8, 2023

A stylized drawing of Bill Erquitt.

The Death of a Relic Hunter

Bill Erquitt was an unforgettable character among Georgia’s many Civil War enthusiasts. After he died, his secrets came to light.

by Charles Bethea via The New Yorker on November 26, 2023

Wikimedia Foundation servers.

Dead Links

Maintaining the internet data of dead people.

by Tamara Kneese via Public Books on October 31, 2023

Maps and photos of the Smithsonian and its anthropologicl collections.

Revealing the Smithsonian’s ‘Racial Brain Collection’

The Smithsonian’s human brains collection was led by Ales Hrdlicka, a museum curator in the 1900s who believed that White people were superior.

by Nicole Dungca, Claire Healy via Washington Post on August 14, 2023

Front entrance of the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Mütter and More

Why we need to be critical of medical museums as spaces for disability histories.

by Aparna Nair via Disability Visibility Project on July 29, 2023

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