Roundup

West Virginia Coal Mine Owners Have Blood on Their Hands

by James Green

The bloody history of mine workers in West Virginia is truly as dark as any dungeon, but the recent indictment of a mine owner suggests that maybe the tide has turned.

The True History of the Origins of Police -- Protecting and Serving the Masters of Society

by Sam Mitrani

The liberal way of viewing the problem rests on a misunderstanding of the origins of the police.

Absolute English

by Michael D Gordin

Science once communicated in a polyglot of tongues, but now English rules alone. How did this happen – and at what cost?

The Boehner-Netanyahu Cabal

by Lawrence Davidson

Remember Citizen Genet? 

How to Think Like Edmund Burke

by Iain Hampsher-Monk

Debating the Philosopher’s Complex Legacy

Why There Is No Massive Antiwar Movement in America

by Tom Engelhardt

What’s missing today is any sense of connection to the government, any sense that it’s “ours” or that we the people matter. In its place -- and you can thank successive administrations for this -- is the deepest sort of pessimism and cynicism about a national security state and war-making machine beyond our control.

GOP’s Scott Walker: Pitches possible Syria War to make us Like Him

by Juan Cole

Likely Republican presidential candidate, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, says he might favor sending US ground troops to mount a conventional war against Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) in Syria or at least wouldn’t rule it out. Really?

Why You Should Celebrate Social Security’s 75th Anniversary

by Philip Moeller

Social Security has been under almost constant attack since day one. But in the 75 years since its first benefit checks went out, the program has transformed retirement.

How playing with dangerous x-rays led to the discovery of radiation treatment for cancer

by Dr. Howard Markel

One of the first Americans to use X-ray radiation to treat cancer was a Chicago chemist and homeopathic physician named Émil Grubbé (1875-1960).

The myth of the American love affair with cars

by Emily Badger

“When I actually looked into the history record, documents from the time, I found just the opposite. What Americans in cities wanted in the ‘20s was to get the cars out.” — Historian Peter Norton

Has the time come to abolish Black History Month?

by Editorial

Some blacks and whites alike argue that it should be

The Theft and Half-Century Journey of Einstein’s Brain

by Matt Blitz

The removal of the brain and eyeballs were against Einstein's final wishes.

How deadly was the poison gas of WW1?

by Marek Pruszewicz

The first major gas attack in war occurred 100 years ago this weekend, in what is now Poland. Gas soon became a routine feature of trench warfare, horrifying soldiers more than any conventional weapon. But was it actually as deadly as its terrible reputation suggests?

The twins of Auschwitz

by Andy Walker

When the Soviet army liberated the Auschwitz death camp 70 years ago many of the prisoners had been killed or marched away by the retreating Nazis. But among those left were some twin children - the subject of disturbing experiments by Dr Josef Mengele.

The New Republic's Legacy on Race

by Jeet Heer

A historical reflection

Rethinking One of Psychology's Most Infamous Experiments

by Cari Romm

What's the lesson of Stanley Milgram's electric shock experiments?  No one is sure. 

The Tragedy of Being a Girl in India

by Graham Peebles

It is said that India is the ‘most dangerous country in the world in which to be a girl’.

The Problem of Israel in the Modern World

by Michael Welton

Zionism has been a beautiful dream for many Jews. But Zionism from the ‘standpoint of the victim’ is not a pretty picture.

A fixed constitution has no place in a modern democracy, so why is the founding document of the US still seen as sacred?

by Daniel Lazare

Thanks to a Senate that gives equal representation to all 50 states even though the largest (California) is now some 65 times more populous than the smallest (Wyoming), US government is arguably more undemocratic now than it was even in the 19th century.

The best way to honor past victims of genocide is to fight it everywhere that it exists today

by Nicholas Kristof

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington is a shining example of that approach, channeling outrage at past horrors to mitigate today’s .