Historians in the News

Noel Swerdlow, U. of C. Professor who Won a Macarthur ‘Genius Grant,’ Dies at 79

Noel Swerdlow wove together the humanities and the sciences through his study of the history of science.

How the "Job" Became the Center of American Life

"Since about the 1940s, Americans have been encouraged to look to their jobs for nearly all of life’s necessities: a living wage, health insurance, and retirement benefits, as well as intangibles like friendship, identity, and a sense of purpose." Historians Nelson Lichtenstein and James Livingston explain why. 

Zelizer: Kabul/Saigon Comparisons are Bad History

Julian Zelizer tells "Here and Now" that the media are making lazy comparisons between the fall of Saigon in 1975 and the Taliban's recapture of Kabul. 

National Museum of American History Announces African American History Curatorial Collective

“African American history is inextricably central to U.S. history, and our growing curatorial team forms an essential force in creating innovative, essential interpretive approaches at a time when cascading crises have shown us how race-based disparities continue to exist,” director Anthea Hartig said.

Web of Connections: Emma Rothschild's Microhistories of France

by David A. Bell

Historian David Bell reviews an effort to relate three centuries of French history through the lives of the descendants of one undistinguished eighteenth century Frenchwoman. 

America Once was Eager for Chinese Immigration. Mae Ngai's Book Explains What Happened

The first wave of the California Gold Rush was "a nettlesome experiment in multiracial democracy that had little precedent in the country's history," but resulted in the development of institutionalized anti-Asian nativism as a political force.

Review: Geraldo Cadava's "The Hispanic Republican"

by Jerry González

Historian Jerry González says that "The Hispanic Republican is a wake-up call for progressives, particularly white liberals, who uncritically believe that rising Latinx population numbers will naturally shift the political winds."

History Professors Consider How The Afghanistan War Will Be Remembered

NPR's Michel Martin discusses what the war in Afghanistan will mean in U.S. history with historian Kathleen Belew, retired U.S. Navy commander Ted Johnson and military judge Col. Gary Solis.

Professor’s ‘Comfort-Women’ Lecture Gets Him Indicted—And Sparks Debate on Academic Freedom

"In an interview, Mr. Lew said he had given that same lecture for more than a decade. Students always pushed back and they debated. But the discourse had never before become public."

Historian Gary Nash, Who Fought to Update History Teaching, Dies at 88

Dr. Nash led a project to update national history teaching standards which was denounced by Rush Limbaugh and other conservatives, after a long career as an influential scholar of early American history who reconstructed the lives of ordinary Americans.

Afghanistan: A Failure Foretold?

Historians of numerous colonial and imperial misadventures – from Indochina to Algieria to Afghanistan – suggest that American goals should have been recognized as incompatible with the reality of Afghan society. 

St. Louis Teachers: "Soul of History" at Stake in New History Wars

“What’s happening in the classroom is not critical race theory, but giving space and giving voice to other perspectives,” said Joseph Kibler, a history teacher at Hazelwood West High School. “It’s just things that happened that weren’t taught before are being taught now.”

The Contemporary US Right’s Roots in 1930s Union-Busting: Interview with Kathryn Olmsted

The New Deal's support for labor rights pushed the large California agricultural interests, who previously embraced "big government" irrigation projects, to an aggressive anti-statist position based in keeping control over their workplaces and their profits. 

James W. Loewen, Who Challenged How History Is Taught, Dies at 79

James W. Loewen, a sociologist and civil rights champion, took high school teachers and textbook publishers to task for distorting American history.

Review Essay: Freedom for Whom?

by Michael Mirer

Two recent books, by Tyler Stovall and Annelien De Dijn, interrogate the history of the idea of freedom and the question of whether western liberal democracy can be freed from its historical roots in exclusion and domination of others. 

The School Culture Wars: ‘You Have Brought Division to Us’

“Schools are particularly fraught spaces because they represent a potential challenge to the family and the authority of parents,” said Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, an associate professor of history at the New School in New York City.

A Brief History of the Taliban

Historian Robert Crews joins Here and Now to discuss the Islamist movement in Afghanistan and their history. 

Redlining: What is It?

"Though the maps were internal documents that were never made public by the federal government, their ramifications were obvious to Black homeowners who could not get home loans that were backed by government insurance programs."

Historian Robert Crews: Trump Negotiations with Taliban Led to Surrender

Robert Crews, a historian at Stanford University specializing in Afghanistan and central Asia, tells CNN's John Vause he believes the Trump administration's 2020 deal with the Taliban played a role in the group's takeover of the country. 

Why Don't the French Celebrate Lafayette?

Two new books examine the life and legacy of the Marquis de Lafayette, whose reputation in the United States far exceeds his esteem in his native France.