Roundup

A New Story Told at Ground Zero

The National September 11 Memorial Museum

The 9/11 Story Told at Bedrock, Powerful as a Punch to the Gut

by Holland Cotter

The National September 11 Memorial Museum, opening ceremonially on Thursday, delivers an emotionally overwhelming experience.

How Ping Pong Changed the World

by Victor Fic

An interview with Nick Griffin about his new book, "Ping Pong Diplomacy."

The Nixon Library Needs a New Director, Now

by Jon Wiener

The library has been without a director for two and a half years, ever since the departure of Timothy Naftali in 2011.

What If historian Timothy Snyder is Wrong About Ukraine?

by Jim Sleeper

While Snyder is surely right to remind us that most Ukrainian nationalists aren’t fascists, as Putin claims, that doesn’t make them as democratic and freedom-loving as Snyder keeps telling us.

Is there anything wrong with a little pork barrel spending?

by Julian Zelizer

"I have been a fan of earmarks since I got here the first day."

Recall That Ice Cream Truck Song? We Have Unpleasant News For You

by Theodore R. Johnson, III

This story may well sour any pleasant childhood memories of chasing after ice cream trucks in the summer.

The Battle in Ukraine Means Everything

by Timothy Snyder

Fascism returns to the continent it once destroyed.

The baseball player who became a memorable trade unionist in the 19th century

by Mark Lause

In a history often preoccupied with the jostling of owners and promoters, it’s worth remembering the contribution of John Montgomery Ward.

401(k)s are retirement robbery: How the Koch brothers, Wall Street and politicians conspire to drain Social Security

by James W. Russell

The decades-long tale of how the Kochs, Reagan, Wall Street and even Democrats have tried to gut Social Security

How Meryl Streep helped the Nazi hunters

by Nicholas Kulish and Souad Mekhennet

A new German generation is trying to ID death camp guards. Four decades ago, a mini-series spurred similar actions.

Roundup Top 10!

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

We Are Long Overdue for a Paul Robeson Revival

by Peter Dreier

Paul Robeson was the most talented person of the 20th century.

The Strangest Wars in History

The shortest war?  The longest war?  

Let the Past Collapse on Time!

by Vladimir Sorokin

"The swift dismantling of remaining Soviet monuments recently in Ukraine caused me to remember the Dzerzhinsky episode."

The Surprisingly Engrossing History of Patent Examiners

by Kara W. Swanson

In the 19th century, they were celebrities!

ANC Uses History to Sweep South Africa’s 2014 Elections

by Emily Bridger

The African National Congress’s continued political success owes much to its use of the past and the memory of Nelson Mandela.

Boston tapes were never meant to be part of current affairs – they're a history project

by Diarmaid Ferriter

During the 1930s in Ireland, politicians, educators and IRA veterans expressed increasing concern about the urgency and importance of collecting testimony from survivors of the War of Independence for historical posterity.

Phineas Gage, Neuroscience’s Most Famous Patient

by Sam Kean

Each generation revises his myth. Here’s the true story.

Ronald Reagan's Benghazi

by Jane Mayer

Congress actually undertook a useful investigation and made helpful recommendations.