Menu
Idea

failure

431
Filter by:

Filter by published date

Viewing 181–210 of 431 results. Go to first page
Floyd B. McKissick and Kimp Talley stand in front of a tall sign that reads "Soul City."
partner

Soul City

In the 1960s, civil rights activist Floyd McKissick successfully sold President Nixon on an idea of a black built, black-owned community in North Carolina.
via BackStory on November 17, 2016
Robert Rauschenberg and Billy Klüver collaborating on an art project

“God Help American Science”: Engineering Theatre and Spectacle

When an event promises you will "hear the body broadcast its sounds," "see without light," and "see dancers float on air,” there’s bound to be disappointment.
by W. Patrick McCray via Patrick McCray on September 7, 2016
Protest of welfare reform in front of the White House, with the sign, "HEY BILL HOW MANY KIDS DID YOU IMPOVERISH TODAY?"
partner

Welfare and the Politics of Poverty

Bill Clinton’s 1996 welfare reform was supposed to move needy families off government handouts and onto a path out of poverty. How has it turned out?
via Retro Report on May 1, 2016
Members of the 1976 United States Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Warren Burger, center.

It’s Been 40 Years Since the Supreme Court Tried to Fix the Death Penalty— Here’s How It Failed

A close look at the grand compromise of 1976.
by Evan Mandery via The Marshall Project on March 30, 2016
Lyndon Johnson campaigning in Illinois in 1964, the year he declared ‘war on poverty;’ Johnson signing an autograph for an elderly woman.

The War on Poverty: Was It Lost?

Four changes are especially important when we try to measure changes in the poverty rate since 1964.
by Christopher Jencks via New York Review of Books on March 18, 2015
Explorers with banner that reads "History of the United States"
partner

Who Was Christopher Columbus?

An author's search for the "real" Christopher Columbus.
via BackStory on October 10, 2014
Men standing outside a store with a sign supporting the WPA in the window.

The Voluntarism Fantasy

Conservatives dream of returning to a world where private charity fulfilled all public needs. But that world never existed, and we're better for it.
by Mike Konczal via Democracy Journal on March 17, 2014
Black and white photo of Charlie Rich on a hammock.

Dear Charlie

Charlie Rich, the tragic soul man whose legacy was largely forgotten after his brief period of fame.
by Joe Hagan via Oxford American on January 7, 2014
Gen. Lew Wallace, circa 1861.

The Incredible Life of Lew Wallace, Civil War General and Author of Ben-Hur

The incredible story of how a disgraced Civil War general became one of the best-selling novelists in American history.
by John Swansburg via Slate on March 26, 2013
Photograph of Jack Kerouac looking into a shop window, by Allen Ginsberg.

Drive, Jack Kerouac Wrote

"On the Road" is a sad and somewhat self-consciously lyrical story about loneliness, insecurity, and failure. It’s also a story about guys who want to be with other guys.
by Louis Menand via The New Yorker on September 24, 2007
A photograph of Henry A. Crabb.

Henry A. Crabb, Filibuster, and the San Diego Herald

A Californian politician's disastrous expedition to seize Mexican land, and how newspapers spun the story.
by Diana Lindsay via San Diego History Center on January 1, 1973
The insolvent brothers giving queer bail

Insolvent Brothers: The Generals Ethan and Ira Allen

How could two renowned, high-ranking men of the American Revolution have fallen into such dire straits that they feared the loss of all they worked for?
by Gary Shattuck via Journal of the American Revolution on May 22, 2025
Lyndon Johnson and Richard Helms, framed by a camera shutter.

Is Spying Un-American?

Espionage has always been with us, but its rapid growth over the past century may have undermined trust in government.
by James Santel via The Atlantic on May 8, 2025
Line drawings of related is school desegregation activism.

How Brown Came North and Failed

Half a century ago the civil rights movement’s effort to carry the campaign for school desegregation from the South to the urban North ended in failure.
by Linda Greenhouse via New York Review of Books on May 8, 2025
Lin Taiyi takes dictation from her father, Dr. Lin Yutang, on a typewriter he invented.

Lost and Found: The Unexpected Journey of the MingKwai Typewriter

Its ingenious design inspired generations of language-processing technology, but only one prototype was made and had long been assumed lost.
by Yangyang Chen via Made In China Journal on May 2, 2025
Two bridges in Grand Island, New York.

Almost Zion: Remembering a Short-lived Jewish State in New York

Ararat, a settlement dreamed up in the 1800s, was meant to offer a refuge to Jews. But after an ornate ceremony, plans never got off the ground.
by Adam L. Rovner via The Conversation on April 29, 2025
Workmen clearing cobwebs from exterior of the White House, c. 1920.
partner

How to Succeed in Government Without Really Trying

The long history of promising an “efficient” federal government. 
by Camille Walsh via HNN on April 23, 2025
General Ulysses S. Grant receiving Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox.
partner

Appomattox Exposes the Dangers of Myths Replacing History

Historians have revealed that the story Americans long learned about the end of the Civil War was a myth.
by Elizabeth R. Varon via Made By History on April 9, 2025
English looking at the word "croatoan" carved in a tree.

The Lingering Mystery of the 'Lost Colony' of Roanoke

From historians to horror writers to white nationalists, attempts to explain the settlement's fate reveal a great deal about our own attitudes.
by Colin Dickey via Atlas Obscura on April 2, 2025
Elon Musk, David Stockman, and a federal building.

The Education of Elon Musk

The Reagan administration offers a cautionary tale about cost-cutting zeal crashing up against the reality of how government works.
by David A. Graham via The Atlantic on March 20, 2025
Working-class Irish family.

What Made the Irish Famine So Deadly

The Great Hunger was a modern event, shaped by the belief that the poor are the authors of their own misery and that the market must be obeyed at all costs.
by Fintan O’Toole via The New Yorker on March 10, 2025
Farmer working a mule-drawn plow.

Racism Isn’t the Only Cause of the Racial Wealth Gap

Widening the lens to capitalism itself could yield insights on how to close the gap.
by Eric Herschthal via The New Republic on March 6, 2025
President Eisenhower; The silhouette of a hand pressing into a fence that is blocking the American flag.

The Shaky History of Mass Deportations

‘Operation Wetback’ and ‘Mexican Repatriation’ worked—until they didn’t.
by Benjamin Montoya via The Dispatch on March 5, 2025
Laborers in El Salvador receive food allotments as part of a program sponsored by U.S.A.I.D., in 1983.

Growing Up U.S.A.I.D.

As a child in postings around the world, the author witnessed the agency’s complex relationship with American empire—and with autocrats everywhere.
by Jon Lee Anderson via The New Yorker on February 25, 2025

Edward C. Banfield and What Conservatism Used to Mean

Hard thinking on difficult and uncomfortable questions about how to keep everything from falling apart.
by Joshua Tait via The Bulwark on February 1, 2025
President Trump at desk in Oval Office signing executive orders.

President Trump Promises to Make Government Efficient

He’ll run into the same roadblocks as Presidents Taft, Roosevelt, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Carter, Reagan, Clinton and Bush, among others.
by Jennifer Selin via The Conversation on January 24, 2025
Statue of Andrew Jackson on galloping horse, in Jackson Square, New Orleans.

Trump Should Revive Jacksonian Military Attitudes

The worship of military technocrats underwrites American failures abroad.
by Hunter DeRensis via The American Conservative on January 15, 2025
Home owners Loan Corporation map of Detroit.

Beyond Brown: The Failure of Desegregation in the North and America’s Lingering Racial Fault Lines

On the ongoing legal struggle for educational and racial equality across the United States.
by Michelle Adams via Literary Hub on January 15, 2025
Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk walk behind Mike Johnson.
partner

History Suggests DOGE Won’t Accomplish Anything Unless It Gets Support From Congress

Theodore Roosevelt started a version of DOGE too, but it failed to achieve much.
by Bruce W. Dearstyne via Made By History on January 13, 2025
Former President Jimmy Carter speaking to the congregation at Maranatha Baptist Church before teaching Sunday school in 2019.

Jimmy Carter’s Most Perplexing Legacy

For all of his personal Christian devotion, he could not capture the hearts of white evangelicals.
by Thomas S. Kidd via The Dispatch on December 31, 2024
View More
30 of
431

Filter Results:

Suggested Filters:

Idea

Person

brought to you by
© Bunk History