hero worship — Bunk History

Photo illustration of Luigi Mangione and John Dillinger.

Why the CEO Shooter Makes the Perfect American Folk Hero

Our country has a long history of admiring particular acts of violence.

by Elliott Gorn via Slate on December 18, 2024

Statute of Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia, with construction hook ready to remove it.

History Shows the Danger of Comparing Trump to Jesus

It’s important to remember why analogies to Jesus should stay out of the political realm. The results are always ugly.

by Laura Brodie via Made By History on March 29, 2024

Martin Luther King Jr. with other activists and children.

Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Perilous Power of Respectability

We revere the man and revile the strategy, but King knew what he was doing.

by Kelefa Sanneh via The New Yorker on May 8, 2023

Bayard Rustin gestures at a zoning map.

Bayard Rustin: The Panthers Couldn’t Save Us Then Either

Rustin’s assessment of the lay of the political land was predicated on a no-nonsense understanding of the radicalism of the moment.

by Adolph Reed Jr. via Nonsite on January 8, 2023

Portrait illustration of Volodymyr Zelensky with the colors of the Ukrainian flag.

The Zelensky Myth

Why we should resist hero-worshipping Ukraine’s president.

by David A. Bell via New Statesman on March 24, 2022

Illustration of Jon Meacham

The Man Who Loved Presidents

A review of Jon Meacham's newest book and documentary.

by Thomas Frank via Harper’s on June 10, 2021

Pioneers of American Publicity

How John and Jessie Frémont explored the frontiers of legend-making.

by Adam Gopnik via The New Yorker on January 20, 2020

At 63, I Threw Away My Prized Portrait of Robert E. Lee

I was raised to venerate Lee the principled patriot—but I want no association with Lee the defender of slavery.

by Stanley A. McChrystal via The Atlantic on October 23, 2018

Where Does the War on History End?

Those who seek to hide the achievements of our greatest men and women are making a monumental mistake.

by Tony Parsons via British GQ on June 21, 2018

Martin Luther King: How a Rebel Leader Was Lost to History

Fifty years after his death, King is a national treasure in the US. But what happened to his revolutionary legacy?

by Gary Younge via The Guardian on April 4, 2018

Drawing of soldiers in combat uniforms.

The Good War

How America’s infatuation with World War II has eroded our conscience.

by Mike Dawson via The Nib on January 10, 2018

Pat Tillman memorial with American flags.

The NFL, the Military, and the Hijacking of Pat Tillman’s Story

Pat Tillman’s life and death is an all-American story. It’s just not the kind that Donald Trump and his supporters want it to be.

by Ryan Devereaux via The Intercept on September 28, 2017

Wild Thing: A New Biography of Thoreau

Freeing Thoreau from layers of caricature that have long distorted his legacy.

by Daegan Miller via Los Angeles Review of Books on July 16, 2017

Robert E. Lee Topples From His Pedestal

The Confederate general has long been seen, in the South and beyond, as embodying the virtues of the ideal man.

by Kevin M. Levin via The Atlantic on May 19, 2017

Alexander Hamilton

The Hamilton Hustle

Why liberals have embraced our most dangerously reactionary founder.

by Matt Stoller via The Baffler on January 1, 2017

Prince Wichaichan, also known as Prince George Washington

George Washington at the Siamese Court

Ross Bullen explores the curious case of Prince George Washington, a 19th-century Siamese prince.

by Ross Bullen via The Public Domain Review on April 21, 2016

Liberals Love Alexander Hamilton. But Aaron Burr Was a Real Progressive Hero.

Why Broadway's biggest villain is worth a second look.

by Nancy Isenberg via Washington Post on March 30, 2016

The Unlikely Paths of Grant and Lee

The two men met at Appomattox. The loser would become a role model, the victor an embarrassment.

by Jamelle Bouie via Slate on April 9, 2015

Zora Neale Hurston’s Rediscovered Novel

A new publication obscures the canonical writer.

by Tiana Reid via The Yale Review on March 11, 2025

A flag depicting a hand pulling back the American flag to reveal a Confederate flag.

Patriotic Education and the End of History

Or, a brief history of today's erasure of history.

by Jeff Sharlet via Scenes from a Slow Civil War on January 30, 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

Leonardo Dicaprio in "Titanic."

Which Celebrities Popularized (or Tarnished) Baby Names? A Statistical Analysis

Which public figures impacted baby naming trends?

by Daniel Parris via Stat Significant on January 8, 2025

Karen Silkwood.

Whistleblower Karen Silkwood’s Urgent Message for Us

Karen Silkwood death and smear campaign highlights how retaliation against whistleblowers deflects scrutiny from power by targeting the messenger.

by Sarah Milov, Katherine Turk via Jacobin on December 28, 2024

Donald Trump and RFK Jr. shaking hands.

The Magic Thinking of Kennedy-ism

The hero worship of the family of American royalty has a dark side: a tendency toward conspiracism that fits with the MAGA movement.

by Rick Perlstein via The American Prospect on December 5, 2024

Drawing of George Washington watching over a group of enslaved people working in a field at Mount Vernon.

Even George Washington Was a Tyrant

We don't need to find heroes in our past presidents. We need to try to understand that tyranny has always been part of American freedom.

by Karin Wulf via Made By History on November 18, 2024

Johnny Carson hosting the Tonight Show.

The Amazing, Disappearing Johnny Carson

Carson pioneered a new style of late-night hosting—relaxed, improvisatory, risk-averse, and inscrutable.

by Isaac Butler via The New Yorker on November 6, 2024

Read Another Book

The Power Broker leaves us ill-equipped to understand or confront the struggles that face the city today.

by Henry Grabar via Slate on September 16, 2024

Two drawn caricatures of Ronald Reagan's face.

I’m a Historian of the ’80s. I Cannot Tell You How Bizarre the New Ronald Reagan Movie Is.

There’s hagiography, then there’s...whatever this is.

by Paul M. Renfro via Slate on September 3, 2024

Portrait of Harriet Tubman, in a field.

There Is Room for Our Black Heroes To Be Human

“Night Flyer” expands Harriet Tubman’s legacy to include her family, community and “eco-spiritual worldview.”

by Tiya Miles, Keishel A. Williams via The Emancipator on June 27, 2024

Collage of security camera image and newspaper articles from the Columbine shooting.

The Columbine-Killers Fan Club

A quarter century on, the school shooters’ mythology has propagated a sprawling subculture that idolizes murder and mayhem.

by Dave Cullen via The Atlantic on April 19, 2024

brought to you by

© Bunk History