Historians in the News

After Studying Housing Discrimination, This Historian is Fighting it in Court

Nathan Connolly and Shani Mott saw their home appraisal increase by a quarter million after they removed visual evidence that their family, which is Black, occupied the residence. 

O'Mara: Politics and Commercial Pressure, not ChatGPT, are the Threats

Historian of technology and Silicon Valley Margaret O'Mara says that the peril of artificial intelligence chatbots and artificial intellience will lie in how it is marketed; the rush to be first to the market creates conditions for sloppy tech and abusive applications. 

Whittaker Chambers's Odyssey from Communist Spy to Conservative Hero

by Matthew Sitman and Sam Adler-Bell

Praised by the right and loathed by the left, Whittaker Chambers entered the public eye when he accused State Department worker Alger Hiss of being a Communist. But his story before and after reveals much more about the political history of midcentury America. 

What are the Evils and Dangers Targeted by Book Bans?

A study of the books flagged for restriction in Duval County, Florida in the last two years suggests that a particular political vision is driving the bans, focusing on LGBTQ themes and racial and religious diversity. But a fear of adolescents' developing autonomy also seems to be in play. 

Teaching, Writing, and Hollywood IP Battles (and Maybe a Workout) are All in a Day's Work

Natalia Petrzela's work as a historian goes far outside the classroom and the library, into the practice of the fitness culture she researches, social media, podcasting, and the politics of intellectual property on streaming services.  

Actually, All of Shakespeare's Plays are About Race

by Daniel Pollack-Pelzner

A new collection of essays argues that Shakespeare's works helped Renaissance Europeans to invent the category of "whiteness," and for later generations to refine and contest its meaning. 

Portraying the Women Leaders of Slave Rebellions

Rebecca Hall, author of a new graphic history, says women warriors and rebels have been portrayed as exceptions proving the rule instead of as freedom fighters. 

Why are the Dems Denying DC Self-Government?

Historian (and HNN Alum) Kyla Sommers connects the recent Senate rejection of DC's local crime legislation to the history of suspicion of Black political power in the District. 

Edsall: Florida's Education Legislation Threatens Academic Freedom. Opinions Differ Whether That's Good

by Thomas Edsall

Columnist Thomas Edsall checked in with historian Amna Akbar, a DEI critic, about Florida's education legislation. Akbar isn't a fan, though may conservative think-tank fellows interviewed are. 

Beverly Gage, Kelly Lytle-Hernández and John Wood Sweet Take Bancroft Prizes

A biography of J. Edgar Hoover, a border-crossing history of revolutionary Mexico, and a study of social hierarchies in 1790s New York City took home the prestigious honor this year. 

DeSantis Wants Us to Ignore What Black Children in Florida Need

Historian Marvin Dunn's "Teach the Truth" tours show that Florida's history can't be taught without acknowledging white racism and terrorism. 

Scholars and Activists Join Open Letter Condemning Political Intrusions on Scholarship and Teaching

An open letter by Black Studies scholars and activists asks why a right-wing political faction has been empowered to hijack the curriculum in Florida and at the College Board, concluding that, far from being "drained of meaning," purged concepts are threatening to entrenched power. 

Fox News Texts Show Long History of Ideological Media

The revelation that Fox hosts promoted what they knew were lies about the 2020 election reflects what Nicole Hemmer calls a 70-year effort by the right to sow distrust in mainstream media. 

George Packer: Historians Need to Stop with the Fatalism

The writer argues that historians are feeding a view of static, unchanging oppression that borders on the metaphysical and defeats the discipline's purpose of evaluating change over time and the political imperative to imagine alternatives to the present. 

Matthew Connelly Presents Digital Lessons on the History of Government Secrecy

Historian Matthew Connelly offers a series of talks and lesson plans for social studies teachers about the origins and significance of government secrecy, classified information, and freedom of information. 

Review: Fluorescent Foxes and Other Outrageous Projects of WWII Espionage

Stanley Lovell, believed to the the inspiration for "Q" in the James Bond stories, was the mastermind of the most outrageous efforts at psychological warfare and deception for the precursor agency to the CIA – including painting foxes with radium to resemble kitsune, shinto harbingers of doom. 

Will the Right Wing Israeli Government Break American Jews' Relationship with Israel?

Shaul Magid, Distinguished Fellow of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth, argues that the new government's agenda will force American Jews to recognize that Israel has become an illiberal country, while historian Hasia Diner says it has long been so. 

As Historians Face More Political Pressure, the James Sweet Controversy Won't Die

A New Yorker reporter asks the outgoing AHA president what pushed him to write a controversial column, and other historians weigh in on what the discipline's relationship to politics should be (and whether historians themselves have the power to decide). 

Exhibiting the Black Panthers' Ephemera

An exhibition of the radical group's posters illustrates the importance-and difficulty-of documenting political movements that used visual communications through ephemeral media like postering and newspapers. 

Law Prof. Joanna Schwartz on How the Police Became Untouchable

Policies that protect individual officers from civil liability, and departments from financial responsibility, have developed into a legal architecture of impunity for American police.