Roundup

Before Crimea Was an Ethnic Russian Stronghold, It Was a Potential Jewish Homeland

by Jeffrey Veidlinger

Soon after Catherine the Great conquered the region from the Ottoman Empire in 1783, she opened it up to Jewish settlement, hoping that the Jews would serve as a bulwark against the Turks.

The secret history of pot (it was made illegal in rapid response to Mexican immigrants smoking it)

by Stephen Siff

The speed with which Americans are now considering legalizing marijuana has taken everyone by surprise. But in the midst of this shift in public opinion and state law it is worth remembering the speed with which marijuana was made illegal.

A People’s History of Muslims in the United States

by Alison Kysia

Mainstream textbooks do little to correct or supplement the biases that students learn from the media.

Veterans and White Supremacy

by Kathleen Belew

The one factor that has fueled every surge in Ku Klux Klan membership in American history, from the 1860s to the present: war.

Why We’re in a New Gilded Age

by Paul Krugman

The big idea of Capital in the Twenty-First Century is that we haven’t just gone back to 19th-century levels of income inequality, we’re also on a path back to “patrimonial capitalism,” in which the commanding heights of the economy are controlled not by talented individuals but by family dynasties.

Too Big to Jail?

by Tom Engelhardt

Why Kidnapping, Torture, Assassination, and Perjury Are No Longer Crimes in Washington

What does it mean to be on the right side of history or the wrong side of history?

by Ben Yagoda

Is saying you're on the wrong side of history a sign of weakness?

Synanon's Sober Utopia: How A Drug Rehab Program Became A Violent Cult

by Matt Novak

One of the weirdest and most vindictive cults of the 20th century.

The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers in the 21st Century

by Mark N. Katz

Various scholars have sought to identify what the objective criteria are for a state to become and remain a great power—especially a dominant great power or hyperpower.

Lost in Literary History: A Tale of Courage in the South

by Dwight Garner

Nineteen seventy-four was a good year for nonfiction writing in America.

Roundup Top 10!

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

FDR, LBJ and BHO: Does Obama Measure Up?

by Ian Reifowitz

Has Obama failed to attract white working class voters?

Bush: "Why Didn't I Know This?"

by Mark Danner

"What did the third member of the triumvirate, Vice President Cheney—who had known about the conflict for weeks—say at this moment?"

Why Solomon Northup’s Story Matters Today

by Stacey Robertson

Slave owners then and human traffickers today use sexual assault to control their victims.

Brandeis Betrays its Educational Mission

by Jonathan Zimmerman

Liberals say some views are too offensive, but that's what red-baiters said in the Cold War about communists.

America's Peace Ship

by Lawrence S. Wittner

Is there an emotional connection between the oceans and the pursuit of peace?

A Pitiful Pulitzer Pick

by Max Boot

The Pulitzer Prize board has just managed to do the impossible.

"Antisemite Max Blumenthal Incites Murder of Three in Kansas"

by Daniel Pipes

Left-wingers are guilty of hypocrisy.

The Slaughter Bench of History

by Ian Morris

How war created civilization over the past 10,000 years—and threatens to destroy it in the next 40.

America’s next great president: Why Obama’s departure paves the way for the next FDR

by Michael Lind

History explains the real differences between Obama and our liberal icons.