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Cover of "Born In Flames" book.

Incendiary Schemes

A new book reveals systematic, profitable, and deadly arson schemes perpetrated by landlords and insurance companies in the Bronx.
by Charlotte E. Rosen via Protean on September 7, 2025
Silhouettes of a family, three wearing shirts showing matching DNA shirts, and one with different DNA.

The Family Fallout of DNA Surprises

Through genetic testing, millions of Americans have discovered family secrets. The news has upended relationships and created a community looking for answers.
by Jennifer Wilson via The New Yorker on August 18, 2025
Black man's face, and maps of Chicago, in an outline of a detective.

The Talented Mr. Bruseaux

He made his name in Chicago investigating race riots, solving crimes, and exposing corruption. But America’s first Black private eye was hiding his own secrets.
by Matthew Wolfe via The Atavist on July 23, 2025
Thomas Kinkade

The Painter of the Right

Thomas Kinkade’s paintings show conservatives a world they have already won.
by Sarah Jones via Dissent on July 16, 2025
Women clad in 1950s era bikinis.

Common Threads: The Origins of the Scandalous Bikini

Like the atomic bomb testing site, the new bathing suit was named “le bikini,” and its impact was almost as explosive.
by Einav Rabinovitch-Fox via The Saturday Evening Post on July 5, 2025
View of a cast member sitting nude on scaffolding during a performance.

The Sixties Come Back to Life in “Everything Is Now”

J. Hoberman’s teeming history of New York’s avant-garde scene is a fascinating trove of research and a thrilling clamor of voices.
by Richard Brody via The New Yorker on June 6, 2025
Michael Ledeen.

Michael Ledeen Was the Forrest Gump of American Fascism

From Iran-contra to Iraq war WMD lies to Trumpism, this right-wing pundit kept subverting democracy. 
by Jeet Heer via The Nation on May 30, 2025
Aimee Semple McPherson in front of her Gospel Car, painted with the words "Jesus is coming soon - get ready."

The “Lady Preacher” Who Became World-Famous—and Then Vanished

Aimee Semple McPherson took to the radio to spread the Gospel, but her mysterious disappearance cast a shadow on her reputation.
by Casey N. Cep via The New Yorker on April 14, 2025
Richard Nixon scowling.
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The Alarming Effort To Rewrite the History of Watergate

For decades, politicians distanced themselves from Nixon's Watergate legacy. Now, some are advancing a new history.
by Michael Koncewicz via Made By History on March 24, 2025
A young boy peers out from a hole in a fence as his friends play basketball in a court where police officers are gathering for a patrol.

How White-Collar Criminals Plundered a Brooklyn Neighborhood

How East New York was ransacked by the real estate industry and abandoned by the city in the process.
by Kristen Martin via The Nation on March 20, 2025
March Madness basketball
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How Sports Betting Took Over March Madness

For decades, the NCAA vigorously opposed sports gambling. Now, March Madness is one of the most bet-on sporting events.
by Johnathan D. Cohen via Made By History on March 20, 2025
A statue of Andrew Jackson riding a horse outside of the White House.

Before Trump, This President ‘Paralyzed’ Washington with Cuts

Andrew Jackson set the standard for the most tumultuous presidential term ever — at least until now.
by Ronald G. Shafer via Retropolis on February 28, 2025
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The Media Spawned McCarthyism. Now It's Happening Again

Some of today's most influential political figures also won power through their willingness to say things that capture media attention.
by A. Brad Schwartz via Made By History on February 9, 2025
Marianne Faithfull

Marianne Faithfull’s Life Contained Rock Music’s Secret History

The harrowing and heroic life of Marianne Faithfull, cheater of a thousand deaths and music history’s true avenging angel.
by Elise Soutar via Paste on February 4, 2025
Ben Davis Jr. leaving courthouse, surrounded by crowd carrying signs bearing various slogans.

In 1930s NYC, Proportional Representation Boosted the Left

NYC history suggests that the Left might profitably revive proportional representation as a tool to build its electoral strength.
by Trevor Goodwin via Jacobin on January 26, 2025
John Tower; Pete Hegseth.

In 1989, Senators Faced a Pete Hegseth Situation Very Differently

I covered the 1989 fight over George H.W. Bush's secretary of defense nominee. It feels awfully familiar.
by Fred Kaplan via Slate on January 23, 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
Jimmy Carter receiving an honorary degree from Notre Dame in 1977.

Here’s How Jimmy Carter Changed Higher Education

He tackled segregation in the nation’s public colleges and fraud in student-aid programs, and established the Department of Education.
by Kelly Field via The Chronicle of Higher Education on December 29, 2024
Nancy Pelosi standing next to a sign that says "Protecting America's Health Care."

UnitedHealthcare’s Decades-Long Fight to Block Reform

UnitedHealthcare, the health insurer whose CEO was murdered, has spent decades fighting and winning political battles to maintain the for-profit health system.
by Branko Marcetic via Jacobin on December 21, 2024
Margaret Sanger and Mary Ware Dennet

The Frenemies Who Fought to Bring Birth Control to the U.S.

Though Margaret Sanger and Mary Ware Dennett shared a mission, they took very different approaches. Their rivalry was political, sometimes even personal.
by Margaret Talbot via The New Yorker on November 18, 2024
Strom Thurmond speaking to the Senate Judiciary Committee in favor of Ed Carnes' confirmation to the bench.

The Fight for Justice Starts with Blocking Judges Who Are “Tough on Crime”

The story of how Ed Carnes became a judge offers crucial lessons for those who hope to unwind the policies of mass incarceration.
by Robert L. Tsai via Public Books on November 13, 2024
Uncle Sam with World War II military aircraft; Depression era bread line in front of automobile ad billboard.

It’s Going to Take a Constant Fight to Preserve the Historical Record

The National Archives museum is backsliding into a sanitized retelling of American history. Don’t assume truth will prevail.
by Nathan J. Robinson via Current Affairs on October 31, 2024
State Correctional Institution at Camp Hill Administration Building, with a restricted entrance sign in front of its doors.

The Porous Prison

How incarcerated people have become separated from American society.
by Charlotte E. Rosen, Reiko Hillyer via Public Books on October 3, 2024
The silhouette of a colonial American man overlayed on the front page of Publick Occurrences.

Why the Debut Issue of America’s First Newspaper Was Also the Publication’s Last

The paper angered colonial officials by repeating a scandalous rumor and condemning a British alliance with the Mohawk.
by Meilan Solly via Smithsonian Magazine on September 25, 2024
Left: Anthony Comstock. Right: Victoria Claflin Woodhull.
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The Comstock Act's Threat to Abortion Rights If Harris Loses

Anthony Comstock, Victoria Woodhull, and what a battle from the 1870s means for 2024 and reproductive rights.
by Rebecca DeWolf via Made By History on September 12, 2024
A drawing of a naked woman standing in front of a crowd of Anabaptists and Quakers.
partner

The Naked Quakers

Today, the international feminist group FEMEN uses nudity as part of its protests. But appearing naked in public was also a tactic used by early dissenters.
by Katrina Gulliver, Jean-Pierre Cavaillé via JSTOR Daily on September 9, 2024
Charles Francis Phillips and Owen Cattell, two Columbia University students, seated.

In 1917, Columbia’s Clampdown Remade the Antiwar Movement

When police raided Columbia University in May, commentators drew parallels to the 1968. But the school’s hostility to the antiwar movement traces back to 1917.
by Dan La Botz via Jacobin on July 11, 2024

Failures to Act

Almost 1,300 people say the state of New Hampshire failed to act to protect them from child abuse at youth facilities. Here’s what the allegations reveal.
by Jason Moon, Russell Samora via The Pudding on June 26, 2024
Ross Perot laughing, surrounded by reporters.

Donald Trump Didn’t Spark Our Current Political Chaos. The ’90s Did.

In ‘When the Clock Broke,’ John Ganz revisits the era of Pat Buchanan and Ross Perot to find the roots of our populist moment.
by Becca Rothfeld via Washington Post on June 13, 2024
Illustration of Frances Thompson, bordered by smoke from green candles, and a purple flower.

How a Disabled Black Trans Woman Left Her Mark on 19th-Century Memphis

For a brief moment in history, Frances Thompson was Memphis’ biggest scandal. Her life paints a different picture of our civil rights legacy.
by Justin A. Davis via The Emancipator on June 13, 2024
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