Week of May 20, 2013
Up Front
 How Did the IRS Get Investigatory Authority, Anyway?Douglas M. Charles The IRS didn't have an investigations division, until they decided to take on the Mafia. Tags: IRS, Kefauver Committee, organized crime, scandals |
 The Real Story of the MS St. LouisRichard Breitman and Allan J. Lichtman Critics say FDR condemned nearly 1,000 Jews to death by turning them away from American ports, but the reality is quite different. Tags: FDR, Cuba, Holocaust, MS St. Louis |
 HNN Hot Topics: Memorial DayTags: Memorial Day, holidays, Hot Topics, veterans |
News at Home
 Austerity: The History of a Dangerous IdeaMark Blyth There's no sound economic argument for austerity. Tags: austerity, economics, financial crisis, welfare state |
News Abroad
 Is Russia Drinking Itself to Death?Oliver Bullough The Russian love affair with vodka is slowly destroying the nation. Tags: alcohol, public health, Russia, vodka |
 Margaret Thatcher and Jimmy Carter: Political BFFs? Lee P. Ruddin It's true -- Anglo-American relations would probably have been better if Jimmy Carter had been re-elected. Tags: Falklands War, Jimmy Carter, Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan |
Historians & History
 Beware Social NostalgiaStephanie Coontz Personal nostalgia is fine, but social nostalgia can distort our understanding of the world. Tags: gender, New York Times, nostalgia, sexuality |
 A Different Thomas Jefferson Tried to Eliminate Slavery in VirginiaThomas Fleming TJ's grandson, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, sponsored a bill for gradual emancipation in the Virginia legislature. Tags: Thomas Jefferson Randolph, Virginia, emancipation, Nat Turner |
 1983: The Most Dangerous Year of the Cold WarDavid Austin Walsh The National Security Archive releases new documents on Able Archer 83. Tags: Able Archer 83, Cold War>, National Security Archive, Soviet Union |
 Was Joseph Kennedy Really an Anti-Semite?Fatima Ahmed-Farouta It depends on your definition of "anti-Semite." He was certainly no friend to the Jews, though. Tags: anti-Semitism, Holocaust, Joseph P. Kennedy, World War II |
 Allen Weinstein's Truth to Tell About Alger HissRonald Radosh The former National Archives head's 1973 book Perjury has just been reissued. Tags: Allen Weinstein, Alger Hiss, Richard Nixon, communism |
Education
 At Universities, Too, the Rich Grow RicherLawrence S. Wittner The outrageous salaries of college presidents are damaging higher education. Tags: income inequality, tuition, universities, higher education |
Books
 Review of David Simonelli's Working Class HeroesRon Briley An academic -- but accessible -- look at the impact of rock music on British society. Tags: David Simonelli, rock music, Great Britain, Beatles |
 Review of Harold Holzer's The Civil War in 50 ObjectsBernard von Bothmer An excellent and accessible introduction to the War Between the States. Tags: books, Civil War, Civil War in 50 Objects, Harold Holzer |
Week of May 13, 2013
News at Home
 The Tea Party Isn't ConservativeChristopher S. Parker It's the latest manifestation of the pseudo-conservative paranoid style in American politics. And here's the statistical proof. Tags: Tea Party, Richard Hofstadter, paranoid style, John Birch Society |
 Why is Our Government Prosecuting Whistleblowers?William J. Astore What happens when the White House becomes the Kremlin? Tags: Barack Obama, federal government, United States, whistleblowers |
News Abroad
 Pray the Way I DoSteve Hochstadt A scandal in Israel: Women praying at the Wailing Wall. Tags: Israel, Judaism, prayers, Wailing Wall |
 Terrorism in the WorkplaceDavid Patten Don't mourn the dead in Dhaka -- organize. Tags: Bangladesh, labor, safety, unions |
 Happy Birthday, Kosovo!Ian Reifowitz Serbia and Kosovo have signed an historic agreement to end two decades of conflict. Tags: civilization, EU, Kosovo, Serbia |
Historians & History
 Ira Katznelson: The Racist History of the New Deal Robin Lindley Ira Katznelson on the New Deal in the age of Roosevelt and Truman. Tags: Ira Katznelson, New Deal, racism, South |
 Marc Lendler: "Every Idea is an Incitement..."Aaron Leonard Marc Lendler on the continuing relevance of Gitlow v. New York, the landmark free speech trial from the Red Scare. Tags: free speech, Gitlow v. New York, Marc Lendler, Red Scare |
 Why Historians' Memoirs are So Valuable James M. Banner, Jr. John Elliott's new memoir is a must-read to understand the practice of history over the past sixty years. Tags: John Elliott, memoirs, Spain, Weekly Standard |
 Thomas Jefferson's NightmareThomas Fleming The specter of a slave revolt haunted the South until the outbreak of the Civil War. Tags: Civil War, Haiti, slavery, Thomas Jefferson |
 Republicans Should Like IkeKeith W. Olson His example offers the party a way forward. Tags: Dwight D. Eisenhower, GOP, Republican Party, Tea Party |
Books
 Review of James Patterson's The Eve of DestructionJeffrey Aaron Snyder Did 1965 really change America? Tags: 1965, books, Eve of Destruction, James Patterson |
 Review of Jill Lepore’s The Story of AmericaLuther Spoehr A worthy successor to the tradition of Richard Hofstadter. Tags: books, Jill Lepore, Luther Spoehr, The Story of America |
