freedom of speech — Bunk History

Viewing 61–90 of 140 results. Go to first page

“Ulysses” on Trial

It was a setup: a stratagem worthy of wily Ulysses himself.

by Michael Chabon via New York Review of Books on September 13, 2019

Conservatives Say We've Abandoned Reason and Civility. The Old South Said That, Too

The ‘reasonable’ right’s persecution rhetoric echoes the Confederacy’s defense of slavery.

by Eve Fairbanks via Washington Post on August 29, 2019

The Contradictions of Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

The Supreme Court justice may have been heralded by many of his progressive peers, but the legacy he left behind is far more ambiguous.

by Brenda Wineapple via The Nation on August 13, 2019

Back When American Fascism Was Bad

On the cancelling of Charles Lindbergh.

by Ed Burmila via The Baffler on July 10, 2019

Martin Luther King Sr., Rosalynn Carter, Andrew Young, Coretta Scott King, Jimmy Carter, and 2 unidentified men holding hands at a service at Ebenezer Baptist Church.

Andrew Young, Marc Lamont Hill, and Palestine

How the resignation of a Carter era ambassador still echoes today.

by Michael R. Fischbach via Stanford University Press on December 20, 2018

When Richard Nixon Declared War on the Media

Like Nixon, Trump has managed to marginalize the media, creating an effective foil.

by Matt Giles via Longreads on November 8, 2018

Artificial Persons

The long road to "Citizens United."

by David Cole via The Nation on June 6, 2018

Company Men

The 200-year legal struggle that led to Citizens United and gave corporations the rights of people.

by Kim Phillips-Fein via The New Republic on March 29, 2018

One Person's History of Twitter, From Beginning to End

Twitter, valuing expansion over principles, achieved its goal of changing the world. But not in the way that it planned.

by Mike Monteiro via Medium on October 15, 2017

From Liberty Tree to Taking a Knee

How America's founding era sheds light on the NFL controversy.

by Stephen Solomon via First Amendment Watch on October 12, 2017

John Adams

Why Trump’s Assault on NBC and “Fake News” Threatens Freedom of the Press

Restricting the press backfires politically.

by Jordan E. Taylor via Made By History on October 12, 2017

How NFL Protests Mirror Berkeley’s 1960s Free Speech Movement

The football players are following in a long tradition of protest.

via VICE News on September 25, 2017

An Intimate History of Antifa

"Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook,” by Mark Bray, is part history, part how-to.

by Daniel Penny via The New Yorker on August 22, 2017

John Adams

How John Quincy Adams Made Lincoln Possible

Adams, whose 250th birthday is today, did not end slavery but his battle against the House "Gag Rule" helped pave the way.

by Richard Samuelson via Weekly Standard on July 11, 2017

Repressing Radicalism

The Espionage Act turns 100 today. It helped destroy the Socialist Party of America and quashes free speech to this day.

by Chip Gibbons via Jacobin on June 15, 2017

America’s Most Political Food

The founder of a popular South Carolina barbecue restaurant was a white supremacist.

by Lauren Collins via The New Yorker on April 24, 2017

Painting "Open Casket" by Dana Schultz

Dana Schutz’s ‘Open Casket’

Should white artists be allowed to depict black suffering?

by Adam Shatz via LRB blog on March 24, 2017

Political Correctness: How The Right Invented a Phantom Enemy

Invoking this vague and ever-shifting nemesis has been the right's favorite tactic, and Trump’s victory is its greatest triumph.

by Moira Weigel via The Guardian on November 30, 2016

Crowds of people surrounding the General Land Office and accompanying tents

Hail to the Pencil Pusher

American bureaucracy's long and useful history.

by Mike Konczal via Boston Review on September 21, 2015

Scene from Birth of a Nation.

“A Public Menace”

How the fight to ban "The Birth of a Nation" shaped the nascent civil rights movement.

by Dorian Lynskey via Slate on March 31, 2015

How Corrupt Are Our Politics?

A review of Zephyr Teachout's "Corruption in America: From Benjamin Franklin’s Snuff Box to Citizens United."

by David Cole via New York Review of Books on September 25, 2014

Woodrow Wilson and a panel of red stars.

Surviving Bad Presidents

What the Constitution asks of us.

by George Thomas via The Bulwark on May 16, 2025

From Chinese Exclusion to Pro-Palestinian Activism: The History of Politically Motivated Deportation

Removal orders targeting student activists echo America’s long past of jailing and expelling immigrants because of their race, or what they say or believe.

by Rick Baldoz via The Conversation on April 30, 2025

People attending a teach-in.

A Way to Honor the Teach-in Movement at 60

It’s time for another national teach-in movement.

by Robert Cohen via Inside Higher Ed on March 21, 2025

Demonstrator with a sign advocating the release of Mahmoud Khalil.

Trump’s Deportations Are a Throwback to Red Scare Politics

The long tradition of the US government using border policy as a tool for political control, stretching back to Red Scare efforts to suppress left-wing dissent.

by Kim Phillips-Fein via Jacobin on March 20, 2025

Front page of the Washington Post above the fold.

The Real Story of the Washington Post’s Editorial Independence

When the Kamala Harris endorsement was spiked, the publisher cited tradition. A closer reading of history tells a different story.

by Steven Mufson via Columbia Journalism Review on February 25, 2025

Justin Trudeau and Donald Trump.

The Beaver and the Eagle: A 200-Year-Old Argument

The left case for an independent Canada.

by Leigh Phillips via Jacobin on February 1, 2025

Joseph McCarthy on a television screen.

No, We’re Not in a New McCarthy Era

Defending academic freedom doesn’t mean exaggerating the threats to it.

by John K. Wilson via The Chronicle of Higher Education on January 31, 2025

Image of classified documents and Russia and US leaders shaking hands.

A Newly Declassified Memo Sheds Light on America’s Post-Cold War Mistakes

This remarkably prescient document holds several lessons about how to run foreign policy.

by Fred Kaplan via Slate on December 23, 2024

The Case Against New York Times v. Sullivan

The malice test is the result of judicial activism and should be rejected by a Court that understands its task as the discovery, not the invention of law.

by Carson Holloway via Law & Liberty on November 1, 2024

brought to you by

© Bunk History