Excerpts

What the backlash to the emergency legislation reveals about the age-old pathologies of the right.

In the realism, the set pieces, the operatic music, Sergio Leone was pointing the way towards modern filmmaking.

The indigo dye that created the Royal Navy's signature uniform color was only possible because of imperialism and slavery.

The difference between the careers and reputations of the three famous authors is about gender as well as genius.

How William Faulkner and a small group of provocateurs challenged segregation in ways that resonate today.

Lead contamination in New Orleans and beyond.

Congress had the final say on the design for the slain president’s monument. The competition was intense.

The economics of childbirth under slavery.

From Bob Dylan to David Bowie to The Beatles, the legendary Beat writer’s influence reached beyond literature into music in surprising ways.

Without accounting for the often-invisible work of others in his research, Robert Caro's new memoir is not so much inspiration as an exercise in self-celebration.

When one system of economic oppression collapsed, new ones were created to fill the void.

In Washington’s Virginia, family was a crucial determinant of social and economic status, and freedom.

Buttigieg believes he probably won’t be the first gay president if he’s elected in 2020.

The longer a camp system stays open, the more likely it is that vital things will go wrong.

Some people called it "Welfare Capitalism." George F. Johnson called it "The Square Deal."

If the play holds up a mirror to our moment, it is by registering slavery in a peripheral glance only to look away.

Her grass-roots efforts shaped the conversation and presented a path forward.

As a Native person, I believe “This Land Is Your Land” falls flat.

Throughout the early 20th century, food corporations created advertisement campaigns directed at women.

The candidate’s years as an anti-busing crusader cannot be forgotten—or readily forgiven.

Why we still read Orwell’s book of prophecy.

Their 1964 collaboration, "Nothing Personal," brought together aspects of American life and culture through photographs and text.

America’s long history of predatory lending.

26 pirates were put to death in Rhode Island on July 19, 1723. Their flag, and everything it stood for, hung with them.

Freeing Thoreau from layers of caricature that have long distorted his legacy.

Law and protest in Durham, North Carolina.

In an exclusive excerpt from his new book, 'Calder: The Conquest of Time,' Jed Perl reveals a hidden side of the artist.

The evolution of the iconic smiley face and some of its not so happy connotations.

How the New Left, urban renewal, safety concerns, and child psychology affected the design of New York playgrounds.

Looking at the reporter’s life through five houses in Baltimore.

Ann Hodges was hit by a meteorite in her Alabama home in 1954.

The dark origins of the first mascots.

The story of Vinegar Hill, a historically African American neighborhood in Charlottesville, Virginia.

John Canaday's poems look at nuclear weapons from the intimate perspectives of its developers.

Nostalgia and technological innovation paved the way for the rise of model-train giant Lionel.

A new book on James Buchanan and public-choice theory explores the Southern roots of the free-market right.

The correspondence of Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower and George C. Marshall leading up to D-Day.

The Allied invasion of France was an important step in the war against the Nazis. But it was by no means a turning point.

If the sci-fi space cities of Bezos’s Blue Origin look familiar, it’s because they’re derived from the work of his college professor.

Reparations for African-Americans has been a hot topic on the presidential campaign trail, but the debate goes back centuries.

What does it look like when city names are replaced by their most Wikipedia’ed resident?

The state prides itself on its abolitionist history. But its identity has been shaken by recent racist incidents.

When it came to gathering refugees, the waiting room of the US consulate was probably the closest thing to Rick’s Café Américain.

In the 1930s, park planning was pretty.

A "yearbook" documents the U.S. military occupation of Nagasaki in the aftermath of the atomic bomb.

The historical record is clear: democracy was only won when poor people waged disruptive class struggle against the rich.

Southern newspapers played a major role in racial violence. Do they owe their communities an apology?

It didn't go exactly as planned. But for TAC's founder, this is where his populist antiwar movement may have begun.

During the Civil War, surrendering was an honorable way of accepting defeat — under the right circumstances.

Almost 60 years later, a mother regrets her decision to send her 6-year-old into a hate-filled environment.