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John Jay painting

Slavery as Metaphor and the Politics of Slavery in the Jay Treaty Debate

The manner in which the debate unfolded is a reminder of the ways slavery affected everything it touched.
by Wendy Wong Schirmer via U.S. Intellectual History Blog on April 12, 2021
Duncanson landscape painting

Robert S. Duncanson Charted New Paths for Black Artists in 19th-Century America

Deemed “the greatest landscape painter in the West,” he achieved rare fame in his day.
by Alex Greenberger via Art In America on January 29, 2021
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The Racist Roots of the Dog Whistle

Here’s how we came to label the coded language.
by Adam R. Shapiro via Made By History on August 21, 2020
A colorized photo of migrant children in 1942.

How to Interpret Historical Analogies

They’re good for kickstarting political debate but analogies with the past are often ahistorical and should be treated with care.
by Moshik Temkin via Aeon on July 22, 2020
Cover of the book These Truths by Jill Lepore.

Only Dead Metaphors Can Be Resurrected

Historical narratives of the United States have never not been shaped by an anxiety about the end of it all. Are we a new Rome or a new Zion?
by George Blaustein via European Journal Of American Studies on June 30, 2020
Illustration of six books on the topic of pandemics

COVID-19 and the Outbreak Narrative

Outbreak narratives from past diseases can be influential in the way we think about the COVID pandemic.
by Priscilla Wald, Kym Weed via Southern Cultures on April 2, 2020

What Our Contagion Fables Are Really About

In the literature of pestilence, the greatest threat isn’t the loss of human life but the loss of what makes us human.
by Jill Lepore via The New Yorker on March 23, 2020

You Are Not Safe in Science; You Are Not Safe in History

“I ask: what’s been left out of the historical record of my South and my nation? What is the danger in not knowing?”
by Natasha Trethewey via Southern Cultures on March 21, 2020

In the Time of Monsters

Watchmen is a sophisticated inquiry into the ethical implications of its own form—the flash and bang, the prurience and violence of comic books.
by Namwali Serpell via New York Review of Books on March 19, 2020

Assassination as Cure: Disease Metaphors and Foreign Policy

The poorly crafted disease metaphor often accompanies a bad outcome.
by Sarah Swedberg via Nursing Clio on January 13, 2020
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Why President Trump Used Lynching as a Metaphor

The long history of politicians claiming to be victims of lynching and racial violence.
by Lawrence B. Glickman via Made By History on October 23, 2019

Winthrop’s “City” Was Exceptional, not Exceptionalist

A review of Daniel T. Rodgers’ "As a City on a Hill: The Story of America’s Most Famous Lay Sermon."
by Jim Sleeper via Los Angeles Review of Books on February 19, 2019
Sign showing a hand pushing a button.

Cute as a Button? Think Twice

A new book examines the first generation of button-pushing Americans at the turn of the 20th century.
by Anna Feuer via Los Angeles Review of Books on November 30, 2018

A Skyline Is Born

A history of filmmakers retelling the story of New York’s architecture.
by Tatum Dooley via Lapham’s Quarterly on November 14, 2018

In the Dismal Swamp

Though Donald Trump has made it into a catchphrase, he didn’t come up with the metaphor “drain the swamp.”
by Sam Worley via Popula on September 20, 2018
Women's liberation movement demonstrating in Washington D.C.

The Waves of Feminism, and Why People Keep Fighting Over Them, Explained

If you have no idea which wave of feminism we’re in right now, read this.
by Constance Grady via Vox on March 20, 2018

‘The Snake’: How Trump Appropriated a Radical Black Singer’s Lyrics

A former communist from Chicago wrote the song in the 1960s, decades before Trump turned it into an anti-immigrant fable.
by Eli Rosenberg via Washington Post on February 24, 2018

The Forgotten Origins of Politics in Sports

Black athletes didn’t “politicize” American sports. They’ve been a battleground from the very beginning.
by Kenneth Cohen via Slate on January 2, 2018

Natural History in Two Dimensions

What can making now tell us about the past? Or should the past remain untouched?
by Whitney Barlow Robles via Commonplace on January 1, 2018

Fleas, Fleas, Fleas

A reflection on the role of parasites in early American history.
by Sarah Swedberg via Nursing Clio on November 14, 2017

“Taking a Knee”: Simple Phrase, Powerful—and Changing—Meaning

Used in military and football slang, the phrase dates back to at least 1960.
by John Kelly via Mashed Radish on September 25, 2017

Draining the Swamp: A Guide for Outsiders and Career Politicians

Despite common belief, Washington, D.C. was not built on a swamp.
by Carl Abbott via The Conversation on March 7, 2017
Washington D.C. in 1860.

Draining the Swamp

Washington may be the only city on Earth that lobbied itself into existence.
by Ted Widmer via The New Yorker on January 19, 2017

The History of American Fear

An interview with horror historian David J. Skal.
by Cori Brosnahan, David J. Skal via PBS on October 28, 2016

The Wrong Side of 'the Right Side of History'

President Obama espouses a facile faith in history bending toward perfection and morality-against evidence and reason.
by David A. Graham via The Atlantic on December 21, 2015

The Manly Sport of American Politics

19th-century Americans abandoned the English phrasing of "standing" for election and begin to describe candidates who "run" for office. The race was on.
by Kenneth Cohen via Commonplace on April 1, 2012
Black and white photo of John Muir sitting on a rock

John Muir's Literary Science

The writings of the Scottish-born American naturalist John Muir are known for their scientific acumen as well as for their rhapsodic flights.
by Terry Gifford via The Public Domain Review on June 9, 2011
Still frame from the film Inherit the Wind depicts a legal team sitting in a packed courtroom.
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How Theater Helps Us Remember the Scopes Trial 100 Years Later

'Inherit the Wind' changed how people understand, and remember, the legendary Scopes trial.
by Charlotte M. Canning via Made By History on July 10, 2025
Lithograph depicting the Congress of Vienna, 1815.

The Conservative Historian Every Socialist Should Read

A lifetime spent studying the disastrous lead-up to World War I gave Paul Schroeder reason to be horrified at the recklessness of US foreign policy.
by Mathias Fuelling via Jacobin on April 22, 2025

How Entertainment Mangled Public Discourse

Neil Postman’s jeremiad against TV seems rather quaint today—and not just because he was shouting into the wind and knew it.
by Katha Pollitt via The New Republic on November 20, 2024
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