Roundup

Charlie Hebdo and France’s Irreligious Tradition

by Kenneth R. Weinstein

Public irreligion in France, from the 16th century to Charlie Hebdo.

The world's biggest 'Je Suis Charlie' hypocrite?

by Jonathan Zimmerman

It's China, where the government aggressively constrains press freedom

Why America Keeps Losing Its Wars

by Walter Stewart

Walter Stewart explains why America is losing its wars and offers a simple solution.

A Short History of Islamism

by Robin Wright

Islamism is now one of the most powerful forces of the 21st century.

“Selma” overlooks the role of Ralph Abernathy

by Ron Radosh

Selma’s director DuVernay apparently gave in to the wishes of the King family that Abernathy’s role be diminished, perhaps because of his disclosures over MLK’s womanizing.

The power of story

by Elizabeth Svoboda

Across time and culture, stories have been agents of personal transformation – in part because they change our brains

Is This Country Crazy?

by Ann Jones

Inquiring Minds Elsewhere Want to Know

‘Selma’ vs. History

by Elizabeth Drew

By distorting an essential truth about the relationship between Lyndon Johnson and Dr. Martin Luther King over the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Selma has opened a very large and overdue debate over whether and how much truth the movie industry owes to the public.

Israel’s March 2015 Elections

by Lawrence Davidson

There is trepidation in the Zionist ranks over the March 2015 elections for a new Knesset or parliament.

Does every president need a separate library?

by Jonathan Zimmerman

Multiple libraries are wasteful, costing taxpayers millions of dollars every year. And they’re undemocratic, because they allow our presidents — not the people who elected them — to define their legacies.

Putin Is Responding to the West's Pressure as We Would Respond

by William Polk

Our interests are best served by the establishment and continuation of healthy, independent and progressive nation states -- both Russia and Ukraine; not two states at daggers drawn.

How Immigrant Activists Changed L.A.

by Manuel Pastor

Immigrant rights organizers and advocates have had their own organizations, agendas, and political battles to improve the quality of daily life in a region in which nearly one-tenth of residents are undocumented and where one in five children have at least one undocumented parent.

Japan’s Island Problem

by Alexis Dudden

The United States did not create these various island disputes, but as the victor in 1945, it drew expedient boundaries to contain a history of conflict, and those boundaries are showing their limits.

Climate change through history

by George F. Will

It has produced warming and cooling, prosperity and cities, war and famine

The Dukakis Lesson: Never Ignore an Attack

by David Corn

A new documentary shows that 1988 Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis learned this too late.

Roundup Top 10!

This week's broad sampling of opinion pieces found on the Internet, as selected by the editors of HNN.

Setting The Record Straight For Alan Turing

by Adam Frank

It's not just that Turing's work was worthy of a Nobel Prize. He went far beyond that.

How ‘Selma’ Diminishes Dr. King

by Josh Zeitz

MLK was a political genius. Why does the film obscure that?

The Secret History of Women in the Senate

by Liza Mundy

In the entire history of the United States Senate, a mere 44 women have served. Ever.

Racism in America: Small Town 1950s Case Study Documentary Film

How Levittown responded when a black family moved in.