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Protestors hold anti-communist picket signs outside of a theatre

The Grim Timeliness of “Noir and the Blacklist”

A new Criterion series of McCarthy-era noir films is a timely collection for an era of rising government repression.
American soldiers in Vietnam.

If You’ve Watched Ken Burns’ Vietnam Documentary, Do You Need Netflix’s?

I, a historian of the Vietnam War, have watched the Turning Point treatment. I have some notes.
Film still from "Three Seasons" of a flower seller in Vietnam.

Tony Bui on the Vietnam War’s Cinematic Legacy

Films from Vietnam and Hollywood testify to the range of stories told about the war on-screen and the different memories they embody.
Cracked marble statue head.

Looks Like Mussolini, Quacks Like Mussolini

The National Garden of American Heroes represents a dangerous shift in values—from inquiry to reverence.
General Ulysses S. Grant receiving Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox.
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Appomattox Exposes the Dangers of Myths Replacing History

Historians have revealed that the story Americans long learned about the end of the Civil War was a myth.
Woodrow Wilson delivering his second innaugural address in front of a large crowd.

America Was at Its Trumpiest 100 Years Ago. Here’s How to Prevent the Worst.

During World War I, America lurched toward autocracy. Resistance was minimal.
Elon Musk arrives for Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025.

The Worldview of the Afrikaner Diaspora Now Haunts the US

Elon Musk and other tech moguls with roots in apartheid-era South Africa have been shaped by the history of right-wing white nationalism.
A worker removes the U.S. Agency for International Development sign from its headquarters on February 7.

Seeds of Mistrust

Musk and Trump are capitalizing on decades of confusion and broken promises to lay waste to a crucial agency.
Painting from 1784 of Romans doing a straight-armed salute.

The Revisionist History of the Nazi Salute

Elon Musk’s defenders were quick to claim that his hand motion was actually an ancient “Roman salute” — but that gesture never existed.
President Roosevelt signs the proclamation naming December 15 as Bill of Rights Day.

The Reinvention of the Bill of Rights

The New Deal-era creation of “Bill of Rights Day” obscures the real nature and guardrails of American liberty.
Pedestrians, carriages, and a trolley pass by the State street buildings in Westerville, Ohio.

The Ohio Town That Launched a Whiskey War

Westerville became the heart of the Prohibition movement, deploying everything from hymns to bombs to keep their town dry.
Farm for sale in Kansas, 1938.
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The Early History of “Selling America to Americans”

Using film and advertising to sell capitalism and nationalism to immigrants in the early 20th century.
A still of Dennis Quaid as Ronald Reagan overlaid on the seal of the United States.

The Thin Line Between Biopic and Propaganda

The success of “Reagan” reflects the market demands of a more fragmented moviegoing public—and reality.
The signing of the Alaska Purchase Agreement on March 30, 1867.

Russia’s First Secret Influence Campaign: Convincing the U.S. to Buy Alaska

Russia has been peddling influence for a long time, using a playbook that it still uses today.
A photograph of the battlefield at Antietam.
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A Remote Reality

Depictions of Antietam couldn’t possible capture the magnitude of the battle’s horror.
Emmett Till's photo is seen on his grave marker in 2002.

Journalist Withheld Information About Emmett Till’s Murder, Documents Show

William Bradford Huie’s newly released research notes show he suspected more than two men tortured and killed Emmett Till, but suggest that he left it out.
Still from the film 'Red Dawn" showing three men holding rifles and binoculars.
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Why 1984's 'Red Dawn' Still Matters

By framing the U.S. as a victim, 'Red Dawn' obscured U.S. aggression in Latin America and elsewhere.
Bruce Springsteen.

Berlin’s Cold War of Rock

Did music really bring down the Wall?
NATO leaders in the 1950s sitting together at a conference.

Ill-Suited to Reality: NATO’s Delusions

It has suddenly become popular to cast NATO as the first benign military alliance in history, without concealed politics.
Painted scene of a busy city, with horses, carts, and hay barrels in the foreground and tall skyscrapers in the background.  George Bellows. New York, 1911. Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon. National Gallery of Art (1986.72.1). CC0, nga.gov. Accessed July 21, 2024.

America’s War on Theater

James Shapiro's book "The Playbook" is a timely reminder both of the power of theater and of the vehement antipathy it can generate.
Malcolm X arrives in New York City in 1964 after a tour of the Middle East.

Malcolm X and the Difficulties of Diplomacy

In 1964, he toured Africa and the Middle East on a journey that would both transform his outlook and reveal the limits of transnational solidarity.
Human figures colored either blue or green.

Mortality Wars

Estimating life and death in Iraq and Gaza.
Aaron Douglas, “Still Life,” n.d.

The Harlem Renaissance Was Bigger Than Harlem

How Black artists made modernism their own.
Senator Robert Menendez walking into court
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The Long, Sordid History of Foreign Government Lobbying

The many strategies foreign governments have used to shape American policy in their favor.
Liberty holding an American flag with "For the Union" written on it.
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Capturing the Civil War

The images, diaries, and ephemera in Grand Valley State University’s Civil War and Slavery Collection reveal the cold realities of Abraham Lincoln’s world.
Star-Herb Medicines and Teas for all Diseases, 1923.
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How Government Helped Birth the Advertising Industry

Advertising went from being an embarrassing activity to a legitimate part of every company’s business plans—despite scant evidence that it worked.
Postal stamp featuring Benjamin Franklin.

Why We Still Use Postage Stamps

The enduring necessity (and importance) of a nearly 200-year-old technology.
Margaret Mead and Joe Rogan.

Turn on, Tune in, Write Code

How psychedelics went from counterculture to grind culture.
Vice President Joe Biden visits Israel on January 13, 2014.

The Shoah After Gaza

Jewish suffering at the hands of Nazis are the foundation on which most descriptions of extreme ideology and atrocity have been built.
Branko Milanovic, 2017.

The Problematic Past, Present, and Future of Inequality Studies

An intellectual history of inequality in economic theory reveals the ideological reasons behind the field’s resurgence in the last few decades.

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