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Cartoon of well-dressed arm holding a lit match

The Gilded Age Never Ended

Plutocrats, anarchists, and what Henry James grasped about the romance of revolution.
Noam Chomsky.

How George Orwell Paved Noam Chomsky’s Path to Anarchism

On the profound impact of Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia" on Noam Chomsky's early embrace of left-libertarian and anarchist ideologies.
Emma Goldman's mugshot in 1901.

Reading Red Emma: A Critique of Liberal Democracy in America

Emma Goldman’s opposition to the American government poses an interesting question for our modern democracy: is there room for radical dissent?

Street Fighting Woman

A new biography of Lucy Parsons makes it clear that the activist deserves attention apart from her more well-known husband.
Emma Goldman.

Emma Goldman’s “Anarchism Without Adjectives”

The writings of Emma Goldman entered the public domain. Here is an introduction to Goldman's life and her particular brand of anarchism.
Drawing of a classic pirate figure, wtih an earring, a tricorn hat, and a satchel, yelling orders at a crew while a ship burns in the background

Were Pirates Foes of the Modern Order—or Its Secret Sharers?

We’ve long viewed them as liberty-loving rebels. But it’s time to take off the eye patch.
A young J. Edgar Hoover sitting at a desk.

When Hoover Met Palmer: Domestic Surveillance and Radical Suppression in the Early Days of the FBI

J. Edgar Hoover’s ascent within the FBI reveals the birth of an unprecedented surveillance apparatus that would survey US citizens for decades to come.
Ted Kaczynski, before and after terror attacks, with writings

The Tragedy of the Unabomber

Ted Kaczynski’s criticisms of environmental destruction and out-of-control technology were incisive, but his terroristic methods had no chance of solving those problems.
The Works of Mercy illustration by Sarah Fuller, 2019.

The Anarchism of the Catholic Worker

In its 90th year, the radical peace movement is reinvigorating itself by going hyper-local.
Ricardo Flores Magon's mugshot.

The Anarchist Who Authored the Mexican Revolution

A new history of the rebels led by Ricardo Flores Magón emphasizes the role of the United States in the effort to take them down.
Jacqueline Jones

Biography’s Occupational Hazards: Confronting Your Subject as Both Person and Persona

As a biographer, Jacqueline Jones found herself wondering how she should deal with aspects of her subject’s life that left her baffled, even mystified.

Blood & Fire: The Bombing of Wall Street, 100 Years Later

When a converted ice cream wagon blew up in Wall Street, it was the loudest burst in a war between the Federal government and American Anarchists.

Great American Radicals: How Would Dorothy Day Vote in 2020?

A biographer of Day talks about what we can learn from the iconic activist.
partner

Why Trying to Distinguish Between Useful and Dangerous Immigrants Always Backfires

Yesterday’s “good" immigrant can turn into tomorrow’s radical.
Black men confront armed whites in a Chicago street.

Tying Black Resistance to Communism Is a Time-Tested American Tradition

When modern conservatives associate activists of color with communism, they’re drawing on a racist history that goes back over 100 years.

The Killing of Sacco and Vanzetti

The execution of Sacco and Vanzetti over ninety years ago is a reminder of how the American state treats radicals.
Demonstrators hold signs arguing to "Save Sacco & Vanzetti"

Is There a Place in Public History for Sacco and Vanzetti?

Ninety years after the duo was executed, there are virtually no physical markers in Boston commemorating them.

Close the Gate? Refugees, Radicals, and the Red Scare of 1919

If radicalism meant insecurity, and immigration meant radicalism, the government's course was clear.
Angry mob in Manhattan
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The Day Wall Street Exploded

On the spectacular act of terrorism that took place in Manhattan a century ago.
Border Patrol agents stand watch along a barrier.

Mass Deportations Are an American Tradition

Past presidents showed that removing millions of illegal aliens is achievable.
Photograph of Benito Mussolini

Gold and Brown

Libertarianism, fascism, and democracy.
WTO protestors in 1999.

How Activists Across the Pacific Northwest Planned the 1999 Seattle WTO Protests

Looking back on the environmentalist and anti-globalization movements of the 1990s.
Prehistoric people seen through a pair of glasses.

The Abuses of Prehistory

Beware of theories about human nature based on the study of our earliest ancestors.
Haymarket riot, as depicted in Harpers Magazine.

May Day is a Rust Belt Holiday

Forged in the cauldron of Chicago’s streets and factories, born from the experience of workers in the mills and plants of Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland.
J. Edgar Hoover

J. Edgar Hoover Shaped US History for the Worse

As director of the FBI for decades, J. Edgar Hoover helped build a massive, professionalized national security state and hounded leftists out of public life.
A researcher holds a magnifying glass to an archival photograph.

Looking for a Lineage in the Lusk Archive

The records of a New York surveillance committee from the time of the First Red Scare document a radical world—and its demise.
Lithograph of the Haymarket riot.

Chicago Never Forgot the Haymarket Martyrs

Ever since the execution of labor radicals in 1886, reactionaries have tried to tarnish their legacy — and leftists have honored them as working-class martyrs.
Ricardo and Enrique Flores Magón at the Los Angeles County Jail, circa 1916.

An American Story

Kelly Lytle Hernández’s new book chronicles the tumultuous period leading up to the Mexican Revolution, casting the border as ground zero for continental change.

Just Beans

What was ethical consumption under capitalism?
Alexander Berkman speaks in Union Square at a gathering of the Industrial Workers of the World.

The “Wobblies” Documentary Reminds Us Why Bosses Are Still Scared of the IWW

The recently rereleased 1979 film can teach today’s workers how to throw their weight around.

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