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Chinese immigrants and American immigration officers at Ellis Island.
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The Perils of Vilifying Chinese Migrants

As Chinese migrants arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border, politicians are reviving old anti-Chinese rhetoric that has done lasting harm.
by Meredith Oyen via Made By History on August 13, 2024
Angela Davis standing at podium, speaking at Communist Party USA event.

How and Why American Communism Failed

Plus: One historian’s about-face on the Communist record.
by Ronald Radosh via The Bulwark on August 2, 2024
Three men fight on a rooftop, above a large city on a river.

The Golden Age of the Paranoid Political Thriller

On the grand tradition of movies reflecting a deep distrust of those in charge.
by Keith Roysdon via CrimeReads on March 25, 2024
Carl McIntire reading the Christian Manifesto outside Riverside Church in New York City and on the right, McIntire leaves Riverside Church, where the Christian Manifesto hangs above the doorway.

The U.S. Culture Wars Abroad: Liberal-Evangelical Rivalry and Decolonization in Southern Africa

As evangelicals worked to gain public legitimacy during the Cold War, historians of evangelicalism search for a usable past for their fellow believers.
by Gene Zubovich via Process: A Blog for American History on January 23, 2024
SECRET stamped multiples times over the United States emblem.

The Troubled History of the Espionage Act

The law, passed in a frenzy after the First World War, is a disaster. Why is it still on the books?
by Amy Davidson Sorkin via The New Yorker on December 11, 2023
Nixon examining a roll of microfilm with a magnifying glass.

Microfilm Hidden in a Pumpkin Launched Richard Nixon’s Career 75 Years Ago

On Dec. 2, 1948, evidence stashed in a hollowed-out pumpkin incriminated suspected Soviet spy Alger Hiss and boosted a young Richard Nixon’s political status.
by Gordon F. Sander via Retropolis on December 2, 2023
"Spy vs. Spy" pointy-headed characters facing each other

Rethinking Spy vs. Spy: A Hand From One Page, A Bomb From Another

Like the spies themselves, the image we have of something is often what gets us in trouble.
by Gyasi Hall via Longreads on September 12, 2023
Symbols of the American Civil War and Slavery against the backdrop of London and British Parliament

The Hunt for Judah P. Benjamin, the Spy Chief of the Confederacy

Suspected of orchestrating the Lincoln assassination, the South’s most prominent Jew escaped to London to start a new life as a high-powered lawyer.
by Jay Soliman, Jane Singer via Tablet on June 22, 2023
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg leaving the courthouse in a prison van, 1951.

Not How He Wanted to Be Remembered

Two decades passed before the ghosts of the Rosenbergs came back to haunt Irving Kaufman, the judge who sentenced them to death.
by Linda Greenhouse via New York Review of Books on June 1, 2023
Sailors recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Feb. 5.

Spy Balloons Evoke Bad Cold War Memories for China

Covert U.S. intrusions into Chinese airspace were common for decades.
by John Delury via Foreign Policy on February 13, 2023
A balloon drifts above the Atlantic Ocean off South Carolina on Feb. 4, shortly before it was shot down.
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Panic Over Spy Balloon Echoes Misguided Alarm Over Sputnik

In this case, freaking out makes even less sense because spy balloons are historically a sign of weakness.
by Kenneth Osgood via Made By History on February 13, 2023
Photos of UFO and the Chinese Spy Balloon.

Why Americans Are So Unsettled by the Chinese Spy Balloon

China’s balloon, whatever its purpose, became a physical and observable reminder of the often-invisible work nations do to keep tabs on one another.
by Kelsey D. Atherton via Slate on February 10, 2023
Man training under water with scuba gear.

Remembering the World War II Frogmen Who Trained in Secret off the California Coast

Recruits learned the arts of infiltration, sabotage, and survival at a hidden base on Santa Catalina Island.
by Andrew Dubbins via Atlas Obscura on June 30, 2022
Collage of photos of musicians.

How a Saxophonist Tricked the KGB by Encrypting Secrets in Music

Using a custom encryption scheme based on musical notation, US musicians smuggled information into and out of the USSR.
by Lily Hay Newman via Wired on June 8, 2022
Richard Nixon, Pat Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Betty Ford walking away from White House

Regime Change, American Style

A new book about Watergate is the first to stress how much we still do not know many of the basic facts about the burglary at its center.
by Christopher Caldwell via First Things on May 20, 2022
Silhouette of a woman's head against a blue and green back drop, with writing within the outline.

The Myth of Agent 355, the Woman Spy Who Supposedly Helped Win the Revolutionary War

A single reference in the historical record has spawned an array of adaptations, most of which overstate the anonymous figure's role in the Culper Spy Ring.
by Bill Bleyer via Smithsonian on March 21, 2022
Drawing of a CIA agent and a Judy sex doll.

Trickster, Traitor, Dummy, Doll

How the CIA tried to trick the Soviets with sex dolls (but ultimately got screwed).
by Triple Dream Comics via The Nib on January 10, 2022
Poster of American flag asking people to pledge allegiance and silence about the war.

World War II’s “Rumor Control” Project

How the federal government enlisted ordinary citizens to spy on each other for the war effort.
by Neely Tucker via Library of Congress Blog on November 2, 2021
Book cover of Public Confessions: The Religious Conversions That Changed American Politics"

Sex, Lies, and Repentance

Reflection on the importance of sex in the spiritual redemption narratives that riveted the American public.
by Rebecca L. Davis via UNC Press Blog on September 16, 2021
The skeleton of a whale

Out to Sea

Since the 1970s, the U.S. and Russia have used marine mammals to further their military objectives, sparking protest from animal rights activists.
by Susanna Space via Guernica on July 15, 2021
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg after their arrest in New York for espionage in 1950.

The Rosenbergs Were Executed For Spying in 1953. Can Their Sons Reveal The Truth?

The Rosenbergs were executed for being Soviet spies, but their sons have spent decades trying to clear their mother’s name. Are they close to a breakthrough?
by Hadley Freeman via The Guardian on June 19, 2021
New York in 1865, a slave ship, silhouette of Sanchez, and a page from Sanchez's notes.

How a Cuban Spy Sabotaged New York's Thriving, Illicit Slave Trade

Emilio Sanchez and the British government fought the lucrative business as American authorities looked the other way.
by John Harris via Smithsonian on March 8, 2021
Background photo shows secret deployment of Soviet nuclear-armed ballistic missiles. On the right is a photo of Juanita Moody.

The Once-Classified Tale of Juanita Moody: The Woman Who Helped Avert a Nuclear War

America’s bold response to the Soviet Union depended on an unknown spy agency operative whose story can at last be told.
by David Wolman, Susan Seubert via Smithsonian on February 23, 2021
Harriet the Spy.

Why Harriet the Spy Had to Lie

An elaborate secret life was a necessity for children’s author Louise Fitzhugh.
by Jennifer Wilson via The New Republic on December 8, 2020
Spies working for the OSS in 1943.

My Uncle, the Librarian-Spy

In 1943, a Harvard librarian was quietly recruited by the OSS to save the scattered books of Europe.
by Kathy Peiss via CrimeReads on February 5, 2020

Spying on Tesla

Looking at a scientist’s FBI file.
by JPat Brown, Michael Morisy, B. C. D. Lipton via Lapham’s Quarterly on March 20, 2019
Korean mothers and children cover their ears as they watch a battle.

The Forgotten War

What has fueled the hostility between the U.S. and North Korea for decades?
via Throughline on February 21, 2019

Operation Ajax

How the CIA’s first attempt at regime change nearly failed.
by Bridey Heing via Lapham’s Quarterly on November 26, 2018

George Washington Was a Master of Deception

The Founding Fathers relied on deceit in championing American independence—and that has lessons for the present.
by Amy Zegart via The Atlantic on November 25, 2018
The inside of the CIA museum.

Notes from the Attic

Displaying the material history of the CIA.
by Mahan Moalemi via Cabinet on November 7, 2018
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