Filter by:

Filter by published date

Viewing 331–360 of 431 results. Go to first page
"Mademoiselle V...in the Costume of an Espada," by Edouard Manet, a painting of a woman dressed as a matador holding sword and cloth.

A Private Matter

Abortion and "The Scarlet Letter."
President Bill Clinton laughs after delivering remarks on welfare reform.

How the Democrats Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Free Market

In the 1990s, the New Democrats trusted corporations to do the right thing. The results were disastrous.
Photograph of women from the Women's Christian Temperance Union gathered at a bar wearing protest signs.

The Forgotten Temperance Movement of the 1950s

Despite the repeal of Prohibition, alcohol consumption was an enormous political issue for many white American Protestants.
Photo illustration of a button causing death courtesy of MIT Press Reader.

How Americans Got Comfortable With Killing at the Push of a Button

For years, the idea seemed immoral and dangerous.
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.
Daniel Mytens' painting of George Calvert, the First Lord Baltimore (1578-1632). (Collection of the Enoch Pratt Free Library / Baltimore, Maryland).

The English Origins of American Toleration

Can the origins of American religious freedom be traced to the religious and political history of England and its empire?
Monuments to the victims of traffic deaths

When Cities Made Monuments to Traffic Deaths

A century ago, cars killed pedestrians and cyclists in record numbers. As traffic deaths rise again, it’s time to remember how US cities once responded to this safety crisis.
Cover of "Bad Gays" book, with subtitle "A Homosexual History" superimposed over a Roman statue's mouth and beard.

What History’s “Bad Gays” Can Tell Us About the Queer Past and Present

A new book examines explores the ways that an uncritical celebration of “good” gays and “good” gayness can cause harm.
Memorial to cancer patients of the Radiation Effects Study, 1960-1972

Radiation, Race, and Recognition

Accountability is crucial as we remember the individuals and communities harmed by our institutions and call for retroactive justice.
Poster with women pledging to "pay not more than top legal prices" and "accept no rationed goods without giving up ration stamps"

Politics and the Price Level

On inflation, institutions, and the governance of the price level.
Crowd at Black Flag concert

The Unraveling of SST Records

Jim Ruland’s book on the legendary punk label helps explain why we lack a meaningful counterculture today.
Phyllis Schlafly and a group of supporters with signs and "Stop ERA" buttons.

The End of the Equal Rights Amendment

As the deadline to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment lapsed in June 1982, the amendment's foes celebrated, while its proponents looked to the future.
MLK giving his Vietnam speech

“Somehow This Madness Must Cease.”

Revisiting MLK Jr.’s sermon against the Vietnam War.
People collecting sap from trees for maple sugar

Praising Maple Sugar in the Early American Republic

In Early America, some prestigious residents advocated for the replacement of cane sugar, supplied by enslaved workers, with maple sugar from family farms.
Then-President George W. Bush meets with his father, former president George H.W. Bush, and former president Bill Clinton in the Oval Office in 2005.
partner

Biden’s Putin Comments Could Warp U.S. Policy

The lesson of the first Gulf War and its aftermath for handling Russia.

Reston’s Roots: Black Activism in Virginia's New Town

In the 1960s, a man named Robert E. Simon Jr. dreamed of a city that would be open to all, regardless of race or income: Reston, VA.
The Central Bank of the Russian Federation.

The Modern History of Economic Sanctions

A review of “The Economic Weapon: The Rise of Sanctions as a Tool of Modern War."
Bleachman, a mascot created by the San Francisco AIDS Foundation as a part of a campaign directed at drug users and intended to help slow the transmission of HIV in needle-using communities, 1988.

What We Can Learn From Harm Reduction’s Defeats

The history of the movement is one of unlikely success. But what can we learn from embattled experiments like prescribed heroin? 
Silver medalists Karen Chen and Nathan Chen pose for a photo after the team event in the figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Feb. 7, 2022, in Beijing.
partner

The ‘Miracle on Ice’ Shaped the Olympics Coverage We’re Seeing Every Night

How rooting for American athletes became part of Olympic TV coverage.
Green labels read "100% Natural Product" and "Natural Bio Product"

Guilt-Free: Naturopathy and the Moralization of Food

How the rise of alternative, "natural," medicines led Americans to equate food with moral character.
Image of an older, decorative ash tray.

Mementos Mori

What else is lost when an object disappears?
Cameron Maynard stands at attention by the monument to Confederate soldiers at the South Carolina Statehouse on July 10, 2017, in Columbia, S.C.
partner

What We’ve Gotten Wrong About the History of Reconstruction

The erasure of Black leaders from the most misunderstood period in American history.
Sketch of the ‘Rising Sun’ design carved in the armchair used by George Washington during the 1787 Constitutional Convention.

A Rising or Setting Sun

A review of how Dennis Rasmussen understands America's Founding Fathers and their disillusions with the American experiment.
Frankling and a turkey with lightning in the background.

When Benjamin Franklin Shocked Himself While Attempting to Electrocute a Turkey

The statesman was embarrassed by the mishap—no doubt a murder most fowl.
Cartoon of a large Ronald Reagan leaning on a small Jimmy Carter.

The Surprising Greatness of Jimmy Carter

A conversation with presidential biographers Jonathan Alter and Kai Bird.
Vehicles at Bagram air base in Afghanistan on July 5 after the U.S. military departed.
partner

U.S. Military’s Longtime Reliance on Contractors Fueled Afghanistan Loss

Relying on private contractors has always created problems for the U.S. military.
Luther Martin
partner

For Constitution Day, Let's Toast the Losers of the Convention

Anti-federalist Luther Martin's agenda failed at the Constitutional Convention, but his criticisms of the Founders may still resonate with us today.

9/11 Forever

Far from a relic of the past, September 11 continues to normalize previously unimaginable forms of state-sanctioned barbarity.
US soldiers stand guard behind barbed wire as Afghans sit on a roadside near the military part of the airport in Kabul on August 20, 2021.

The US Lost in Afghanistan. But US Imperialism Isn’t Going Anywhere.

The US suffered grave losses in Iraq and Afghanistan, but we shouldn’t mistake revisions of US military strategy for a turn away from imperialist ambitions.

9/11 was a Test. The Books of the Last Two Decades Show How America Failed.

The books of the last two decades show how overreacting to the attacks unmade America’s values.

Filter Results:

Suggested Filters:

Idea

Person