Roundup

President Trump Must Resist his Base’s Push to Prioritize Faith over Science

by Erica Ramirez

Pentecostals have long challenged science and medicine—something that could prove deadly during the covid-19 pandemic.

Coronavirus Pushes Higher Education to the Brink

by Stephen Mihm

Long-simmering troubles at America’s colleges and universities are about to boil over, consuming debt-ridden schools and redefining the campus experience.

Trump Has Broken the Republican Party—and Conservatism—for Good

by William Kristol

There is no going back.

The Liberal Arts, the People, and the Pandemic

by Jonathan W. Wilson

Other than professional experts, the Americans who understand the crisis best—regardless of political ideology—are those who have a well-rounded imagination.

The Drama and Appeal of ‘Tiger King’ Is a Century in the Making

by Andrew Robichaud

Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin have hooked quarantined Americans because of what the series says about themselves.

America Is Ailing—and Leading the World

by Adam Tooze

The coronavirus pandemic has been a humiliation for the United States—and confirmation of its unmatched international power.

The Coronavirus Test Is Too Hard for Trump

by Jamelle Bouie

The president joins Herbert Hoover and James Buchanan as a leader who failed when it mattered most.

Roundup Top Ten for April 3, 2020

The week's top ten op-eds by historians from around the web.

Anti-Intellectualism is Killing Us

by Scott Laderman

For decades the Republican Party has railed against expertise, painting it as a conspiratorial assault on so-called “conservative” values and the millions of Americans who embrace them.

For More Than A Century, Americans Fine-Tuned The Rules Of Democracy. Why Have We Stopped?

by Gregory P. Downs

The United States has survived not by keeping the same system but by transforming its rules at crucial moments.

The Internet Archive Chooses Readers

by Karin Wulf

To elevate the needs of the reader above all others is to dismiss the labor of archivists, authors, compositors, designers, editors, librarians, marketers, metadata creators, and all the other myriad people involved in bringing knowledge into being and into the marketplace.

During the Covid-19 Pandemic, Immigrant Farmworkers are Heroes

by Eladio Bobadilla

Tracing Cesar Chavez's transforming views on immigration may shed light on how we can support farmworkers’ rights today.

If We Want to Stop Covid-19, We Can’t Forget the Incarcerated

by Jessica L. Adler

Imprisoned people are especially at risk, just as they were during the HIV/AIDS crisis.

Yes, Covid-19 Treatment Must Be Free for All. But That’s Not Enough.

by Mical Raz

Carving out exceptions for treating specific illnesses undermines health.

The Lone Woman of Kokura

by Nyri A. Bakkalian

Who was the Lone Woman in the Kokura Castle town ruins that day in 1866? We don’t know her name, though we know where she died in Kokura.

Reality Has Endorsed Bernie Sanders

by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

American life has been suddenly and dramatically upended, and, when things are turned upside down, the bottom is brought to the surface and exposed to the light.

Having It Easy in the Beginning, Tough in the End

by William J. Astore

Retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and historian William Astore makes it so vividly clear, recalling a prophesy of his own dad, that if demobilization remains our position in the tough times to come, we're going to be in deep, deep trouble.

The Conservative Campaign Against Safety

by Lawrence Glickman

How did we get to the point where ministers, the president, many Republican politicians, and a variety of media outlets are calling for people to risk death to save the economy?

No, Mr. President, Healthcare Workers Aren’t Stealing Masks. You Failed Them.

by Deborah Levine

We needed mass production of basic gear, because our affinity for high-tech innovation has left us with shortages.

Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before: A Study in the Politics and Aesthetics of English Misery

by Owen Hatherley

Owen Hatherley reflects on the last two UK general elections by charting the musical evolution of The Smiths.