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Photograph of a soldier using a telephone in the field.

A History of Wire-Tapping

Meyer Berger’s 1938 look at the technology, history, and culture of eavesdropping, from the wiretapping of Dutch Schulz to the invention of the Speak-O-Phone.
by Meyer Berger via The New Yorker on June 11, 1938
Painting of Abraham Lincoln

The Election in November

The Atlantic’s editor endorsed Abraham Lincoln for presidency in the 1860 election, correctly predicting it would prove to be “a turning-point in our history.”
by James Russell Lowell via The Atlantic on October 1, 1860
A row of windmills

History of the United States Farm Bill

How U.S. agricultural policy has evolved over time.
by Bailey DeSimone, Sidonie Devarenne via Library of Congress
A map of the United States divided into regions.

A Balkanized Federation

Without a shared civic narrative – the pursuit of liberal democratic self-government – the rival regional cultures of the United States agree on very little.
via Nationhood Lab

A Supreme Court Justice Wrote the Greatest “No Kings” Essay in History

This opinion is a milestone in the rule of law and is regularly cited by conservative and liberal justices alike.
by Gerard Magliocca via Slate on July 10, 2025
A snowcapped mountain surrounded by forest reflects in a lake at North Cascades National Park.

Remembering What the Parks Forgot

On memory, erasure, and the return of indigenous presence.
by Ryan W. Booth via Perspectives on History on July 2, 2025
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration headquarters.
partner

Trump May be Repeating Reagan's Deep Sea Mining Mistake

Undermining international oceans governance could damage American interests.
by Sonya Schoenberger via Made By History on June 17, 2025
Elon Musk and his son board Air Force One.

How William Howard Taft’s Approach to Efficiency Differed from Elon Musk’s

This isn’t the first effort by a president’s appointee to streamline government.
by Laura Ellyn Smith via The Conversation on May 9, 2025
Jason Chernesky

Their Jobs Vanished. These Historians Want to Ensure Their Stories Don’t.

An oral history project to document the stories of federal workforce cuts is open to all feds and contractors — even DOGE and Musk.
by Kyle Swenson via Washington Post on March 27, 2025
Women working at the Social Security Administration in Baltimore, Maryland, 1937.

Women’s Work: Section 213 and the Women Fired from the Federal Government

In 1932, married women were among the first targets in a campaign to reduce federal spending and balance the budget.
by Tanya L. Roth via The Saturday Evening Post on March 24, 2025
Civil rights lawyers including Thurgood Marshall and Constance Baker Motley.

Trump's Attack on Lawyers and Law Firms Takes a Page Out of the Southern 1950s Playbook

American authoritarians fear the uniquely American power of litigation.
by Sherrilyn Ifill via Sherrilyn's Newsletter on March 24, 2025

George Washington Knew the Difference Between Running a Business and Running the Government

The first businessman president realized that working with Congress – not alone or against it – was the best way to create an efficient federal government.
by Eliga Gould via The Conversation on March 10, 2025
Herbert O. Yardley and diplomatic codes from the Black Chamber.

The Spy Who Exposed the Secrets of the Black Chamber

In 1931, Herbert O. Yardley published a tell-all book about his experiences leading a covert government agency called the Cipher Bureau.
by Peter Zablocki via Smithsonian on February 4, 2025
Airplane flying over a muddy, congested road near the Hoover-Washington Airfield in the 1930s.

The Humble Beginnings of the National Airport

A swamp with a busy road going right through the middle, Washington’s airport was called “a disgrace.”
by Petula Dvorak via Retropolis on February 1, 2025
State flags in front of a federal building.

Does America Still Do Federalism?

Michael Boskin’s volume gives a grim account of the state of federalism today.
by Tony Woodlief via Law & Liberty on January 13, 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
American Indian children in boarding school.

More Than 3,100 Students Died at Schools Built to Crush Native American Cultures

The Washington Post has found more than three times as many deaths as the U.S. government documented in its investigation of Indian boarding schools.
by Dana Hedgpeth, Sari Horwitz, Joyce Sohyun Lee, Andrew Ba Tran, Nilo Tabrizy, Jahi Chikwendiu via Washington Post on December 22, 2024
Kash Patel photographed in profile.

How Would Kash Patel Compare to J. Edgar Hoover?

If Trump’s pick to lead the F.B.I. gets confirmed, the Bureau could be politicized in ways that even its notorious first director would have rejected.
by Beverly Gage via The New Yorker on December 11, 2024
A girl in Native American tribal regalia being crowned as homecoming queen.

The Complex Politics of Tribal Enrollment

How did the U.S. government become involved in “adjudicating Indianness”?
by Rachel Monroe via The New Yorker on November 20, 2024
Advocates of student loan forgiveness protest outside the Supreme Court.

Reflections on the Geopolitical Roots of U.S. Student Loan Debt

The emergence of student loan debt in the late 1960s can be situated within a broader shift towards neoliberal governance.
by Britain Hopkins via Process: A Blog for American History on October 29, 2024
Photo of Framer James A. Bayard then a modern day photo of Congresswoman Liz Cheney.

How Past and Present Catch Up With Each Other

The election of 1801 offers a first-hand example of how current events can offer historians new perspectives on the past.
by James M. Banner Jr. via The Panorama on October 23, 2024
A crowd of Chinese immigrants stands around in a train depot.
partner

The China Business

At the turn of the century in upstate New York, one tiny town learned there was money to make in the jailing of Chinese migrants.
by Brianna Nofil via HNN on October 22, 2024
The Puerto Rican flag outside the Governor's residence in San Juan.
partner

The Catch-22 of Puerto Rico's Status Referendum

When Puerto Ricans go to the polls, they can express their choice for several status options for the island.
by Christina D. Ponsa-Kraus via Made By History on October 11, 2024
An aerial view of a forest meeting with a burnt, empty landscape.

Does the U.S. Have a Fire Problem?

Forest fires of 1910 sparked a media-driven fire exclusion policy, which has arguably worsened today's "fire problem."
by Richard Bednarski via Edge Effects on October 10, 2024
Debris from hurricane Helene.
partner

America Forgot a Crucial Lesson From Hurricanes of the Past

History reveals that even weakening storms do catastrophic damage when they hit mountainous regions.
by Justin McBrien via Made By History on October 9, 2024
Cover of "A Great Disorder" by Richard Slotkin, depicting the outline of the United States made out of cracked stone, overlaid with the American flag.

American Mythology

Is the United States a prisoner of its own mythology?
by Tom Zoellner via Los Angeles Review of Books on October 4, 2024
A handwritten envelope for court documents in "The United States v. Thomas Chittenden."

Guilty as Charged

Convicting Vermont’s first governor.
by Gary Shattuck via Journal of the American Revolution on September 26, 2024
Caesar's profile is eerily set against the Great Seal of the United States.

US President or American Caesar?

American democracy has been haunted by the spectre of a Caesar-type figure since the birth of the republic. Have such fears ever been justified?
by Ian McDaniel via History Today on September 25, 2024
U.S. Constitution

This Book Could Change the Way Conservatives Read the Constitution

“Against Constitutional Originalism” by historian Jonathan Gienapp could fundamentally reorient how we understand America’s founding.
by Cass R. Sunstein via Washington Post on September 25, 2024
Crowd marching on Wall Street.

Nationalize the Banks

Grassroots support for public banks early in the 20th century revealed the popularity of socialism-aligned economic ideas.
by Christopher W. Shaw via Catalyst on September 20, 2024
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