Current Events that Relate to History
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Q&AThe Past, Present, and Future of Left Jewish Identity
Jewish identity on display in Jewish-led Palestine solidarity demonstrations is part of a long history of Jewish identity being bound up in leftist politics.Jacobin -
NewsTrump Reverses Army Base Names in Latest DEI Purge
The announcement comes just four days before the Army’s multimillion dollar parade in Washington.Politico -
CommentWelcoming Their Hatred
As Elon Musk and Donald Trump engaged in a campaign of mutually-assured destruction, social media saw record new levels of schadenfreude.Campaign Trails -
Q&AJohn Cassidy on Capitalism and Its Critics
The author on capitalism’s critics, why everyone is so unhappy with the system, and what may come next.The Yale Review -
Book ExcerptBad Curls, Bad Character
The charged meaning of hair in 19th-century America.Literary Hub -
Book ReviewThe Marxists Are Coming
Calls to defund the Marxist left and similar mobilizations against rumors of a new red dawn are nothing new.The Baffler -
exhibitThe Many Faces of Nativism
As this exhibit shows, anti-immigrant sentiment has been a throughline of American history.
From the HNN Archive
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How to Succeed in Government Without Really Trying
The long history of promising an “efficient” federal government. -
What Is the Role of the Historian?
Rethinking the job of history — and the American Historical Association — after the veto of the Gaza “scholasticide” resolution. -
Indifferent to the Fate of Freedom Elsewhere
Jimmy Carter is known for his defense of human rights worldwide. But in 1979, he threatened to deport thousands of Iranian student protesters. -
An Attempt to Defeat Constitutional Order
After the Civil War, conservatives used terrorism, cold-blooded murder, and economic coercion to fight the new state constitution in South Carolina. -
Whose Side Are College Administrators On?
There’s a long history of politicians targeting student protesters — and of campus leaders abetting those efforts. -
The Constitution Does Not Speak for Itself
In 1841, John Tyler said he was the president. The Constitution said he wasn’t. What happened next? -
“At Any Future Time”
In 1880, the daughter of a Welsh politician turned to fiction to expose perspectives missing from the official record, upending histories for generations to come. -
Letting the World Scream
In 1984, the U.S. rejected the International Court of Justice’s jurisdiction, revealing its tendency to ignore international rules it sees as unfavorable — even when it helped write them. -
Scared Out of the Community
Between 1929 and 1939 approximately half a million Mexicans left the United States. Many of the departing families included American-born children to whom Mexico, not the United States, was the foreign land. -
When Good Housekeeping Meant Getting Vaccinated Against Polio
The pages of 1950s lifestyle magazines offer a glimpse of a time when childhood vaccines were anything but controversial.