Joseph McCarthy

In his lifetime, Robert Welch toiled in the mocked and marginal fringe. Today his ideas are the mainstream of the American right.

Roy Cohn connects the McCarthy era to the age of Trump across more than half a century.

From 1947 until the 1990s, an estimated 10,000 LGBTQ people were pushed out of government and military positions.

The conservative conspiracy lit that paved the way for Donald Trump.

Fifty years later, Bobby Kennedy’s passionate, inspiring, and tragic presidential campaign still fascinates.

Revisiting Holfstadter's "paranoid style" in the era of Trump.

The government saw Red when looking at William Gropper's painting of the United States.

It had been around a long time before the Radical Right discovered it.

In broadcasting, the Red Scare turned into a stupid hall of mirrors.

A Republican administration that wages war against immigrants and colleges should be understood as the culmination of William F. Buckley conservative movement.

On Richard Hofstadter and the current assault on academia.

How William F. Buckley Jr. turned his father’s private convictions and prejudices into a major political movement.

Red Scare can be read as solid history of the years it depicts—and chilling prophecy of the years to come.

The political vision that William F. Buckley helped forge was—and remains today—focused less on adhering to principles and more on ferreting out enemies.

In his latest book, journalist and historian Clay Risen explores how the House Un-American Activities Committee and Senator Joseph McCarthy upended the nation.

Diplomatic relations, domestic repression. Plus: the truth about Joseph Welch, and a bit of family history.

The impact can linger not just for years but decades.

Defending academic freedom doesn’t mean exaggerating the threats to it.

In the early nineties, the country turned against the establishment and right-wing populists thrived. A new history reassesses their impact.

Many recoil at the thought of stronger political parties. But revitalized parties could be exactly what our ailing democracy needs.