Historians in the News

American Democracy Wasn't Built to be Democratic

by Louis Menand

In a review essay of several books diagnosing the maladies of American democracy, Louis Menand concludes that the system itself is working as designed: to thwart popular rule. 

VP Menon, the Civil Servant who Held India Together

More than 500 princely states contained 40 percent of the population of British India. Independence depended on convincing their rulers to integrate to the new nation. VP Menon did more than almost anyone else to make that happen. 

Marc Gallicchio on Truman and the Transition to a Peacetime Economy

As victory over Germany approached, Truman's economic and military advisors debated whether to begin to divert resources back into civilian production to ease what promised to be a difficult economic reconversion. 

A Columbia Prof. Fact-Checked the New Vietnam-Era Film "The Greatest Beer Run Ever"

Although it tells the story of American protagonists, Prof. Lien-Hang Nguyen worked with the producers to ensure accuracy and avoid stereotyping in the depiction of Vietnamese characters in the film; she susggests that there are many more Vietnamese stories to tell. 

Nicole Hemmer on Alex Jones and the Right-Wing Media Machine

Will Alex Jones's expensive defeat in court slow down the spread of conspiratorialism in right-wing media? 

Kelly Lytle Hernández on the Linked Histories of Mexico and the US

"Many Americans don’t know that the histories of the United States and Mexico are inseparably intertwined. But historian Kelly Lytle Hernández says you cannot fully understand one without the other."

A Lost Archive of DC Life at Midcentury

Rescued from a dumpster minutes before the arrival of the garbage truck, Ray Honda's photographs captured DC at the dawn of the civil rights era and the vibrant Black culture of the city. 

Massachusetts Indigenous Groups Call for Boycott of Living History Museum at Plymouth

Members of the Wampanoag nation say that Plimoth Patuxet Museums has failed to honor a pledge to create a truly bicultural museum depicting indigenous history respectfully. 

Primary Source: Winning World War 1 By Fighting Waste at the Grocery Counter

A trade catalog for a grocery counter that could store bulk goods like beans and eliminate superfluous packaging was pitched as a patriotic way to save materials for the war effort, and speaks to contemporary desires to cut down on packaging waste.

The Presidential Records Act Explains How the FBI Knew What to Search For at Mar-a-Lago

"The archivists probably have a really keen idea of what is and what isn’t missing, based upon things that they’ve gotten out of other offices, like the vice president’s office and things that got deposited from the secretary of state, for example."

Theocracy Now! The Forgotten Influence of L. Brent Bozell on the Right

Long overshadowed by compatriot (and brother-in-law) William F. Buckley, Bozell's aggressive advocacy of theocratic reaction was a key wellspring of resurgent Christian nationalism, particularly its Catholic varieties. 

Walter Russell Mead: Non-Jewish Interest Groups, not "Israel Lobby" Drive Hawkish US Mideast Policy

Rejecting the idea of a Jewish-led "Israel Lobby" Mead emphasizes the historical influence of American Christian zionists and militarists in tilting America's mideast policy toward the goals of the Israeli right. 

The Misuse of History in 2021 Documentary "The Business of Birth Control"

by Donna J. Drucker

The documentary combines an endorsement of conspiratorial suspicion of pharmaceutical contraception and scientifically questionable fertility management under the guise of "empowerment" with a dose of financial conflict of interest thrown in. 

Two-Time Pulitzer Prize Winner David McCulloch Dies at 89

"Mr. McCullough, long regarded as a master storyteller of American daring, endeavor and perseverance, died Aug. 7 at his home in Hingham, Mass. He was 89."

How Toxic is Masculinity, and Whose Job Is it to Fix It?

Historian Ivan Jablonka's history of the idea of patriarchy suggests that feminists should recognize the current wave of male grievance as an opportunity to renegotiate the entire social compact of gender that has been built up over centuries of male power. 

Barbara Smith on Reproductive Freedom Organizing

by Joseph R. Fitzgerald

As an activist with the Combahee River Collective and after, Barbara Smith helped define the attention to the relationships among racism, sexism and social class associated with the term "intersectionality." Here, she discusses the past and future of reproductive justice with her biographer.  

Janice Longone, Chronicler of American Food Traditions

Longone's recovery of cookbooks from immigrant and ethnic communities highlighted both diversity in American food culture and the labor of women in organizing it. 

The NRA's Amicus Brief Machine

Lax disclosure rules about who funds the groups filing amicus briefs means that the NRA has been able to use its wealth to flood the courts with briefs that exaggerate the strength of its radical pro-gun positions, says historian Patrick J. Charles. 

Revisiting Lady Rochford and Her Alleged Betrayal of Anne Boleyn

Sylvia Barbara Soberton's new book argues that Jane Boleyn, long blamed for the accusations against her husband George and sister-in-law Anne that led to their deaths, has been unfairly scapegoated. 

It's Hard to Be God

by Joshua Craze

"One might think that becoming a god is a quick route to an easy life. The problem is that gods are beholden to their believers, and worshippers tend to have plans for their deities."