Excerpts

Donald Trump and Elon Musk are just the latest populists to weaponise fears of a sinister “deep state”.

Why did Hollywood lose interest in making paranoid thrillers? Was it a change in the culture? Or a change in the marketplace?

Noyes is not a household name, but his evangelism for the notion of design as a holistic strategy is so pervasive that many now take it for granted.

A brief history (and celebration) of the apex of human civilization.

Trump’s executive orders can’t define diversity out of history.

Lessons from Bear Stearns's collapse 17 years ago.

He set a new record for the longest continuous speech in the Senate, surpassing Strom Thurmond’s 1957 attempt to prevent the passage of the Civil Rights Act.

Using evidence to remind us.

The Right is exploiting a manufactured moral panic.

Staten Island's long battle against quarantine restrictions, from yellow fever to COVID-19.

After decades of unchecked hazardous waste pollution, a Florida hamlet fights the developers eager to build homes there anyway.

A new museum dedicated to Go-Go music comes with a message for both gentrifiers and lawmakers: #Don’tMuteDC.

Queer resistance to state-sponsored oppression campaigns, from Reagan to Trump.

A new biography of an elusive comic talent.

Vincent Conlon’s secret life in the United States as an operative and gun-running Irish rebel.

The public and private battles waged across Europe and the United States during the 1918 flu pandemic.

On underground presses and state violence.

Normally staid historians sound alarm at authoritarian grasping for control of the premier US museum complex.

Linda Gordon argues that social movements are vital partnerships that, by challenging the status quo, are indispensable to the health of the nation.

In 1932, married women were among the first targets in a campaign to reduce federal spending and balance the budget.

Three new books propose market solutions to problems that require government intervention. We’ve been here before. It didn’t end well.

New study based on declassified records reveals paranoia about subversion in conservative states that resulted in serious constitutional violations.

NYT pundits and NBA writers alike can't stop recommending this four-decade-old book.

On the ongoing battle to desegregate schools across America throughout the 1960s.

Confederates kidnapped free Black people to sell into slavery. After the war, two women sought help from high places to track down their lost loved ones.

An oral history project to document the stories of federal workforce cuts is open to all feds and contractors — even DOGE and Musk.

Senator Joseph McCarthy built his reputation on fear-mongering, smear campaigns, and falsehoods about government employees and their associates.

Dean Acheson, President Truman’s prim, patrician undersecretary of state, was sitting in his office on February 21, 1947, when he received a visitor.

Donald Trump’s authoritarian second term has led critics to describe him as a fascist in the mold of Adolf Hitler.

Where amid this turmoil does neoliberalism stand? In emergency conditions it has been forced to take measures.

For historian Russell Shorto, it was all about water.

International trade boomed with the city’s early adoption of technological and economic changes, but Black neighborhoods became ‘sacrifice zones.’

The radical legacy of Abram Colby, one of Georgia’s first Black legislators, was almost erased by racist revisionists.

In the 1910 World Heavyweight Championship, London cheered on Jim Jeffries as he faced off with Jack Johnson, the first Black heavyweight champion.

A long and ugly history.

A presidential lawyer and historian combed through the latest document dump so you don’t have to. Here’s what he found.

What it means, why it matters, and where it started.

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

When does our taste in music stagnate?

City of the living dead.

The recent commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the bloody Elaine Massacre sought to correct the historical record and start hard conversations.

Delivered 250 years ago, the famous oration marked the Henry’s influence. The politician also served in key roles in Virginia’s state government.

A story of a 150-year-old font you have never heard of – and one you probably saw earlier today.

“The lesson of the Tinker case is: Speak up. Stand up,” Mary Beth Tinker told us.

Anvil's popular vision for a multiracial socialism in the heart of the US could hardly be more urgent today.

A review of Edwin Frank's short list of great 20th century novels.

The effort to return American government to republican principles is daunting—but the Founders’ wisdom can serve as a guide.

How East New York was ransacked by the real estate industry and abandoned by the city in the process.

The U.S. government repeatedly tried to deport the midcentury labor leader over his alleged ties to the Communist Party.

The Virginia delegate may have spoken those words on March 23, 1775, but some historians doubt it.