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Collage of William F. Buckley by Aaron Martin.

The Conservative and the Murderer

Why did William F. Buckley campaign to free Edgar Smith?
by Sam Adler-Bell via The New Republic on March 7, 2022
Johnny Cash performing with band

The Radicalism of Johnny Cash

The best-selling musical artist in the world in 1969, Johnny Cash sang of (and for) the "forgotten Americans": the imprisoned men of all races.
by Livia Gershon, Daniel Geary via JSTOR Daily on December 24, 2021
"Law and Political Economy Project" logo.

Public Money without Public Goods

By documenting how public debt produced our present nightmare, Destin Jenkins allows us to dream about using public money to mend the ills of our era.
by David Stein via LPE Project on August 19, 2021
Guard checking pockets of American soldier prisoners

Prisoners of War

During the war in Vietnam, there was a notorious American prison on the outskirts of Saigon: a prison for American soldiers.
via Radio Diaries on August 12, 2021
An image of the diary of John Claypoole, third husband of Betsy Ross.

Betsy Ross’s Husband’s Diary Turned Up in a Garage. Here’s What it Tells Us About The Flagmaker.

The 240-year-old journal of John Claypoole, a Revolutionary War POW and later the third husband of Betsy Ross, sheds light on the flagmaker.
by Natalie Pompilio via Retropolis on July 12, 2021
The writer (seen here in a picture from the eighteen-eighties) hid his own life story.

Are All Short Stories O. Henry Stories?

The writer’s signature style of ending—a final, thrilling note—has the touch of magic that distinguishes the form at its best.
by Louis Menand via The New Yorker on June 28, 2021
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg after their arrest in New York for espionage in 1950.

The Rosenbergs Were Executed For Spying in 1953. Can Their Sons Reveal The Truth?

The Rosenbergs were executed for being Soviet spies, but their sons have spent decades trying to clear their mother’s name. Are they close to a breakthrough?
by Hadley Freeman via The Guardian on June 19, 2021

The Black Panther Party Has Never Been More Popular. But Actual Black Panthers Have Been Forgotten.

While the Panthers have become a staple of pop culture, veteran members of the group remain invisible.
by Santi Elijah Holley via The New Republic on April 22, 2021
Malcolm X

A Malcolm For Our Times

"The Dead are Arising" may be the best Malcolm X biography yet. But its author seems unsure of how to write about a religion outside the American mainstream.
by Joseph Stuart via Arc: Religion, Politics, Et Cetera on April 13, 2021
Deputy sheriff at county fair in Gonzales, Texas.

New Sheriff in Town

Law enforcement and the urban-rural divide.
by Jonathon Booth via The Drift on February 3, 2021
Carvings on two whaleteeth (scrimshaw)

The Pleasure Crafts

Everyday people's creation of porn and erotic objects over the centuries.
by Cintra Wilson via New York Review of Books on December 17, 2020
Raphael Warnock and Stacey Abrams
partner

The Long History of Black Women Organizing in Georgia Might Decide Senate Control

Black women in Georgia have shaped local and state politics for more than a century.
by Danielle Phillips-Cunningham via Made By History on December 10, 2020
Register to Vote sign
partner

Disenfranchisement in Jails Weakens Our Democracy

Hidden disenfranchisement is as much of a problem as long lines at the polls.
by Charlotte Rosen via Made By History on October 21, 2020
French military marching in practice for the Bastille Day Parade.
partner

The American Founders Celebrated the Storming of the Bastille

They understood that revolution means dismantling old power structures, violently if necessary.
by Zara Anishanslin via Made By History on July 14, 2020
Illustration of a nineteenth century prison ship offshore.

The Gay Marriages of a Nineteenth-Century Prison Ship

What seemed to enrage a former inmate most was the mutual consent of the men he lived with.
by Jim Downs via The New Yorker on July 2, 2020
Hurricane Katrina flooding.

Through Hell and High Water: Katrina's First Responders Oral History Project

A collection of interviews with rescue workers who responded to the disaster.
via The Historic New Orleans Collection on June 27, 2020
A wanted poster that reads "Wanted by the people: murder, aggravated assault and battery, denying civil rights, perjury. Brinley Evans, Thomas Lyons."

Wanted: An End to Police Terror

The pursuit of justice has been defined by a rote binary of punished in a cage versus unpunished and free.
by Stuart Schrader via Viewpoint Magazine on June 9, 2020

The Legal Fight That Ended the Unjust Confinement of Mental Health Patients

Ayelet Waldman on the landmark case O’Connor v. Donaldson.
by Ayelet Waldman via Literary Hub on January 21, 2020

The History of O. Henry's 'The Gift of the Magi'

The beloved Christmas short story may have been dashed off on deadline but its core message has endured.
by Patrick Sauer via Smithsonian on December 23, 2019

An Early Case For Reparations

Two new books tell the stories of people kidnapped and sold into slavery. One of them sued successfully.
by Eric Herschthal via The New Republic on October 16, 2019

Joe Biden Pushed Ronald Reagan to Ramp Up Incarceration – Not the Other Way Around

Biden convinced small-government Republicans to increase spending in the War on Crime.
by David Stein via The Intercept on September 17, 2019
A field of gravestones.

Good Bones

What is a small, historically-minded community meant to do with something like Western State Hospital?
by Elizabeth Catte via Popula on September 25, 2018

Prison Cells and Pretty Walls

Gender coding and American schools.
by Jennifer Borgioli Binis via Nursing Clio on May 3, 2018

Why Tamika Mallory Won’t Condemn Farrakhan

To those outside the black community, the Nation of Islam’s persistent appeal, despite its bigotry, can seem incomprehensible.
by Adam Serwer via The Atlantic on March 11, 2018

The Murderer Who Started a Movement

David Gunn’s murder was the first targeted killing of an abortion doctor in America. His killer now has an opportunity for parole.
by Dahlia Lithwick via Slate on October 31, 2017
Illustration of the folk hero, John Henry, face down with a hammer in his hand.

A History of American Protest Music: This Is the Hammer That Killed John Henry

How a folk hero inspired one of the most covered songs in American history.
by Tom Maxwell via Longreads on October 4, 2017
Someone writes at a desk next to a gavel, with the scales of justice in the background.

The Rise of the Prosecutor Politicians

How local prosecutors' offices have become stepping stones to higher office.
by Jed Handelsman Shugerman via SHUGERBLOG on July 7, 2017

The Two-tiered Justice System: Money Bail in Historical Perspective

Decades of tough-on-crime policies that criminalized the poor and people of color are yet to be undone, but the pendulum is beginning to swing.
by Cassie Miller via Southern Poverty Law Center on June 6, 2017
Clara Newton at her home outside Baltimore, holding a picture of her son Odell, who has been in prison for 41 years for a crime he committed when he was 16. State officials have recommended Odell for release three times since 1992, but he has not been freed. August 4, 2015.

The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration

Politicians are suddenly eager to disown failed policies on American prisons, but they have failed to reckon with the history.
by Ta-Nehisi Coates via The Atlantic on September 15, 2015

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