Roundup

The Untold Story of the World's Biggest Nuclear Bomb

by Alex Wellerstein

Read a detailed account of the moment in the Cold War when the United States and Soviet Union contemplated, then developed and tested, nuclear weapons of horrifying power. 

The Purpose of "Purposeful Ignorance"

by R. Raoul Meyer

How can effective teaching proceed from a position of ignorance? By strategically modeling a lack of knowledge as a starting point for inquiry.

Another Buffalo Was Possible

by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

India Walton seemed on track to become the first Black woman mayor in Buffalo, and the first socialist to lead a major city in decades. The sitting mayor rallied to defeat her, but we should still consider the possibility of more liberatory politics. 

Work Requirements Would Undo A Signature Biden Accomplishment

by Molly Michelmore

An expanded Child Tax Credit would potentially reduce child poverty by 40%. Placing work requirements on the credit would harm children for the sake of the historic pattern of policing the line between the deserving and undeserving poor. 

Was Afghanistan Just a Schell Game?

by Nick Turse

Somehow being right about American wars never translates into celebrity or widespread media appearances.

Banning "Beloved" Won't Help Protect Kids, But it Will Help Sanitize Racism

by Farah Jasmine Griffin

It's worthwhile to consider Morrison's characterization of censoring Huck Finn as a “purist and yet elementary kind of censorship designed to appease adults rather than educate children.”

Inaction By Design: Blame the Founders for Stalled Legislation

by Calvin Schermerhorn

Although two Senators have been singled out by many liberals as villains, "today’s legislative sausage factory evokes the Founders’ recipe for federal inaction — and their suspicion of democracy."

How Christian Archaeologists Fed Today's Strife in Jerusalem

by Andrew Lawler

The incursions of 19th century Christian archaeologists onto Jerusalem's historic acropolis created a sense of seige on the part of Palestinian Muslims, which is echoed today in ongoing conflict over the city's religious sites. 

Fannie Lou Hamer's Leadership Shows We Can't Separate Civil Rights and Economic Justice

by Keisha N. Blain

The author of a new biography of the Mississippi Freedom Democrat argues that Hamer's legacy shows that inequality erodes both civil rights and democracy. 

Replacing Sentiment with Action: Support HBCUs

by Brian M. McGowan

"Until the discipline is ready to recognize HBCUs, our faculty, and our students as equal participants, its statements on diversity and empathy for students of color will remain conditional."

An Anti-Democratic Court Is Nothing New

by David A. Love

"For most of its existence, the court has not been a moderate, apolitical body, but rather has oppressed marginalized groups and protected White male landowners, the group long considered ideal political citizens."

Expanding the Digital Black Atlantic

by Roopika Risam

Scholars who are bringing digital humanities work to the study of the African diaspora and the connections between Black people in Europe, Africa and the Americas are also mindful of the need to avoid perpetuating the gaps and omissions about historical Black experiences that characterize traditional archives.

150 Years Ago, a Mob Attacked Los Angeles's Chinese Community

by Reece Jones

It's essential to understand white supremacy as a national phenomenon that defended the color line against multiple groups and linked white identity to the nation's borders. 

There's Little Doubt: The Second Amendment Threatens the First

by Diana Palmer and Timothy Zick

"In short, the visible presence of firearms increases the risk of violence and death when exercising one’s First Amendment rights."

It's not Just the Missionaries: Haiti had 782 Kidnappings This Year

by Cécile Accilien

"The kidnapping business is in fact supported by the convergence of interests of the political and business elite and the international community, while the interests of the vast majority of Haitians are obviously not taken into account."

If the Justices Really Value "Originalism," They Can Only Vote One Way in Guns Case

by Saul Cornell

"If the justices professing to believe in originalism are sincere about their method, this case offers the rare opportunity to prove that originalism is not always a prescription for results-oriented judging that follows a conservative political agenda."

Laugh at Parodies of School Board Meetings, but Take Local Politics Seriously

by Lily Geismer and Eitan D. Hersh

Local politics – if it involves a wide spectrum of community opinion – can help override partisan polarization, create new coalitions, and empower citizens to make meaningful change.

Let the Punishment Fit the Crime

by Ben Austen and Khalil Gibran Muhammad

Tough-on-crime laws that forbid discretionary parole emerged in the 1970s. A historical perspective suggests they've failed, keeping people in prison long after doing so protects society. 

How Academia Laid the Groundwork for Redlining

by Todd Michney and LaDale Winling

Richard T. Ely and his student Ernest McKinley Fisher pushed the National Association of Real Estate Boards to adopt "the unsupported hypothesis that Black people's very presence inexorably lowered property values," tying the private real estate industry to racial segregation. 

The Attack on University of Florida Professors is Totalitarian

by Silke-Maria Weineck

Even beyond academic freedom, events in Florida signal the effort to tie the interests of the state's universities to the agenda of the state's ruling party.