Farm for sale in Kansas, 1938.
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The Early History of “Selling America to Americans”

Using film and advertising to sell capitalism and nationalism to immigrants in the early 20th century.

"College Sports: A History"

A new book considers the challenges of controlling the commercialization of college sports.
A gate with the dollar signs on the front.

No Change In Elite College Low-Income Enrollment Since 1920s

A comprehensive new study found that the socioeconomic makeup of highly selective colleges is roughly the same as it was a century ago.
Chinese laborers engaged to work on the American Transcontinental Railroad system.

America's First Major Immigration Crackdown and the Making and Breaking of the West

Chinese immigrants sacrificed to create America's first transcontinental railroad. Its completion contributed to a backlash that led to immigration clampdown.
Protestors after Nixon's Election protesting the end to war.

US Labor and the Gaza War: Historical Perspective

Are we doomed to repetition? It’s something I worry about.
Neon signage for Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort.
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The 2024 Election and America's Love Affair With Lotteries

Americans love games of chance, but history shows they're a poor substitute for a robust investment in public goods.
Donald Trump at a podium

The New Trumpian Bargain

Trump's second term echoes 19th-century policies: tariffs and immigration limits protect workers, while deregulation risks widening inequality.
A Chinese American woman riveter at work.
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Could “Rosie the Riveter” Be Chinese American?

Despite having their citizenship withheld before the war, Chinese American women in the Bay Area made significant contributions to the wartime labor force.
Advocates of student loan forgiveness protest outside the Supreme Court.

Reflections on the Geopolitical Roots of U.S. Student Loan Debt

The emergence of student loan debt in the late 1960s can be situated within a broader shift towards neoliberal governance.
A 1923 General Electric advertisement of a women standing over a light switch.

Using Women’s Suffrage to Sell Soup and Cereal

In the 1920s, advertisers tried to convince women to exercise their political power not only at the ballot box but also in the store.
A graphic of a megaphone with a group of people inside the horn holding smaller megaphones.

Gags and Grievance: The Labor Origins of Whistleblowing

The forgotten history of the Lloyd-La Follette Act and of whistleblowing in the federal workforce.

Call of Duty: Pentagon Ops

Inside the weird synergies that launched the videogaming industry—and made the Pentagon fantasies in Call of Duty its stock in trade.
Trump holding a table of tariff rates.
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Tariffs Don’t Have to Make Economic Sense to Appeal to Trump Voters

Economists and Democrats dismiss Trump’s tariffs talk at their peril.
A view of Wall Street and Federal Hall in the Financial District in New York City.

In the 1970s, the Left Put a Good Crisis to Waste

In "Counterrevolution," Melinda Cooper reads the 1970s economic crisis as an elite revolt rather than proof of the New Deal order’s unsustainability.
Shipping container labeled "China Shipping," overlaid on political cartoon showing a tariff slowing supply of medicine to a drip.

Trump Loves The 1890s But He’s Clueless About Them

The tariffs he keeps babbling about didn’t make that decade great. They helped usher in a depression.
Statue of Jefferson Davis next to other leaders in Statuary Hall in the Capitol.

Many Wealthy Members of Congress are Descendants of Rich Slaveholders

Researchers measured lawmakers’ wealth and found that those whose Southern ancestors owned slaves before abolition have a higher net worth today.
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.
A still from the Apprentice of Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump and Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn inside a car.

The Apprenticeship of Donald Trump

A new film examines Trump's formative years under the tutelage of Roy Cohn.
Black and white photo of Boston’s Old Corner bookstore (1900).

Bookselling Out

“The Bookshop” tells the story of American bookstores in thirteen types. Its true subject is not how bookstore can survive, but how they should be.
The sold-out crowd at Yankee Stadium’s first opening day.

Major League Baseball’s Historical Quest to Entice Middle- and Upper-Class Fans to the Park

MLB’s focus on wealthier fans stands in stark contrast to rhetoric about the ballpark that had long called it a site of egalitarian intermixing.
Harris carved in stone next to Mount Rushmore.

Kamala Harris Must Grapple with America’s Founding Fathers

To achieve a new political settlement, she has to resolve a tension dating from the Revolution.
Ibn Khaldun

The Muslim Thinker Who Inspired Reagan

How Ibn Khaldun influenced the president and a generation of conservative tax policy.
A computer, business documents, envelope, and a broadcast tower.

How Tech Giants Make History

AT&T’s early leaders used PR to sway public opinion, casting their monopoly as a public service and obscuring its political roots.
Advertisement for beer.

Pilsner Goes to America: How Beer Got Big in the 19th Century

On the transatlantic development of pilsners and lagers from Central Europe to the Americas.
A homesteader woman feeding chickens.

Some Country for Some Women

As women stretch themselves thin, homesteader influencers sell them an image of containment.
Run on a bank during the Great Depression.

The Radical Past and Future of Debt Resistance

The deep roots of debt relief activism in the United States.
A McDonald's worker handing a bag of food to someone in a drive through.
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What Harris Talking About Her McDonald's Job Reveals

Harris' rhetoric about working at McDonald's shows how Democrats have rethought their 1990s emphasis on fast food jobs.
Crowd marching on Wall Street.

Nationalize the Banks

Grassroots support for public banks early in the 20th century revealed the popularity of socialism-aligned economic ideas.
Portrait of Julius Rosenwald hanging on a wall.

Finding Philanthropy’s Forgotten Founder

Julius Rosenwald understood that charity is not just about giving, but about fixing the inequalities that make giving necessary.
Photograph of young students getting off a school bus.

Public Schools Really Can Save America

America's public schools were founded on the ideal of uniting rich and poor, but inequality persists due to racial, income, and systemic divides.