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Members of the Harvard branch of the KKK pose for 1924 graduation photo at the foot of John Harvard Statue

The Crimson Klan

The KKK was clearly present at Harvard. But the university rarely mentions the 20th century in its attempts to reckon with its past.
"We the People"; US Constitution

It Would Be Great if the United States Were Actually a Democracy

The pervasive mythmaking about the supposed wisdom of the founders has covered up a central truth: the US Constitution is an antidemocratic mess.
A large sports stadium surrounded by the city

Counterhistories of the Sport Stadium

As large spaces where different sectors of the city converge, stadiums are sites of social and political struggle.
Black man drinking from a segregated water fountain.

Caste Does Not Explain Race

The celebration of Isabel Wilkerson’s ‘Caste’ reflects the continued priority of elite preferences over the needs and struggles of ordinary people.
A picture of Boston being modernized through urban development, construction is happening on several buildings.

How Did American Cities Become So Unequal?

A new history of Ed Logue and his vision of urban renewal documents the broken promises of midcentury liberalism.
Artistic photo with american flags

Richard Hofstadter’s Discontents

Why did the historian come to fear the very movements he once would have celebrated?
A movie still featuring a close-up of two actors from The Age of Innocence

The Age of Innocence: How a US Classic Defined Its Era

Cameron Laux looks at how The Age of Innocence – published 100 years ago – marked a pivotal moment in US history.

Tawk of the Town

A review of "You Talkin’ to Me? The Unruly History of New York English."
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey speaks about school COVID policy.
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The Undemocratic History of School "Pandemic Pods"

Why Americans rejected educating only the children of the wealthy.
A pen and ink portrait of Alexander Hamilton as Treasury Secretary.

A New Hamilton Book Looks to Reclaim His Vision for the Left

In “Radical Hamilton,” Christian Parenti argues that the left should use Alexander Hamilton’s mythologized status to drive home his full agenda.
A photograph of Richard Hofstadter in front of a library of books.

Politics, Populism, and the Life of the Mind

An interview with Sean Wilentz on Library of America's new collection of Richard Hofstadter's works.
Toppled Howitzers Monument in Richmond, VA

American Oligarchy

A review of "How the South Won the Civil War: Oligarchy, Democracy, and the Continuing Fight for the Soul of America."
Cartoon by Joey Perr; a man in a top hat and holding a monacle studies a sign broadcasting Ella Fitzgerald as music notes fill the air.

What’s Going On

The vexed history of "Night Life" in the New Yorker.

On Ancestry

A scholar of the history of race sets out on an exploration of his own family roots, and despite his better judgement, is moved by what he discovers.
Photo of a group of well-dressed professionals is edited to blot out their faces.

How McKinsey Destroyed the Middle Class

Technocratic management, no matter how brilliant, cannot unwind structural inequalities.
Picket line march of auto workers.

Detroit Autoworkers’ Elusive Postwar Boom

The men who made the cars could not afford to buy them.
U.V.A. Inauguration Day 1921

Jefferson’s Shadow

On the occasion of its bicentennial, and in the wake of racist violence in Charlottesville, UVA confronts its history.
Photograph of Michael Lind wearing a blazer and tie.

Michael Lind on Reviving Democracy

To fix things, we must acknowledge the nature of the problem.

The Decade Comic Book Nerds Became Our Cultural Overlords

Why do they have to be such sore winners?
Sidney Hook speaking at the opening session of the Congress for Cultural Freedom in Berlin on June 26, 1950.

Is Science Political?

Many take the separation between science and politics for granted, but this view of science has its own political origins.
Immigrant women at Ellis Island.

A Journalist on How Anti-Immigrant Fervor Built in the Early Twentieth Century

A century ago, the invocation of science was key to making Americans believe that newcomers were inferior.

An Unreconstructed Nation: On Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s “Stony the Road”

A new history of Reconstruction traces the roots of American “respectability” politics through artwork.
Harvard University in the colonial era.

Getting Into Harvard Was Once All About Social Rank (Not Grades)

In the 17th and 18th centuries, students at America’s elite universities were treated differently based on the social stature of their parents.

Have Elite US Colleges Lost Their Moral Purpose Altogether?

The ethical formation of citizens was once at the heart of the US elite college. Has this moral purpose gone altogether?
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Biosphere 2: A Faulty Mars Survival Test Gets a Second Act

In 1991, eight people sealed themselves inside a giant glass biosphere to practice space living. By the time they emerged, they had “suffocated, starved and went mad.”

The Growing Rift Between Workers and Environmentalists

Members of the working class were once among the environmental movement's best allies. That support has largely disappeared.
Photo of young woman looking at camera in blue-walled room. Above her an image of Jesus Christ is framed. Through the room's window a shirtless man can be seen on a porch, also facing the camera

Left Behind

J.D. Vance's "Hillbilly Elegy" and Steven Stoll's "Ramp Hollow" both remind us that the history of poor and migratory people in Appalachia is a difficult story to tell.

How America’s Hunting Culture Shaped Masculinity, Environmentalism, and the NRA

From Davy Crockett to Teddy Roosevelt, this is the legacy of hunting in American culture.

Revisiting the Most Political 'Star Trek' Episode

In 1995, the "Deep Space Nine" installment “Past Tense” stood out for its realistic, near-future vision of racism and economic injustice.

Patriotism, Partisanship, and “The Star-Spangled Banner”: A View from the Early Republic

Music continues to hold an allure for elites seeking to politicize patriotism in support of their privilege.

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