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Melting European Glaciers Yielding Artifacts Faster than Archaeologists Can Keep Up

Artifacts trapped in glacial ice are valuable because they are preserved; for archaeologists, climate change means both glaciers and artifacts are at risk. 

Do "We" Have a Political Violence Problem?

A longitudinal study by the University of Maryland suggests that even looking back to the 1960s, the right has been much more likely to promote violence as an instrument of politics. 

Is Moms For Liberty Out to Protect Kids or Scare Parents?

Williamson County in suburban Nashville shows how the astroturf Mom's group erupted on the scene to challenge a popular and well-regarded social studies curriculum for elementary schools on the grounds that its civil rights lessons were "divisive." 

Texas GOP Candidate for Congress Wrote Anne Frank Sequel Wherein Jewish Teen Finds Jesus in Auschwitz

In Johnny Teague's narrative, Anne Frank asks whether Jews have failed to recognize the Messiah. He insists that his story does not claim Frank ever converted to Christianity. 

A Roundup of Affirmative Action Takes as SCOTUS Hears Arguments in Harvard, UNC Cases

From left, right and center, and from pundits and legal scholars, a roundup of analysis on the oral arguments in Supreme Court cases that could eliminate race-conscious admissions policies. 

Defendant in Michigan Admissions Case: Ending Affirmative Action Would be Disastrous

by Lee C. Bollinger and Geoffrey R. Stone

The former President of the University of Michigan says that diversity in higher education remains a compelling reason to allow race as one factor in college admissions. 

Inside the Affirmative Action Cases Before SCOTUS

Edward Blum is a longtime conservative legal activist who is leading lawsuits claiming that affirmative action in admissions violates the requirement that the constituiton be color-blind; whether there is any such principle is debatable. Includes insights from historians Hugh Davis Graham and Eddie R. Cole. 

Has the IRS Abandoned Enforcing Ban on Church Political Activity?

Evangelical megachurches are increasingly confident that they can directly intervene in political races, declaring one candidate "ordained" and another "demonic," without anyone doing anything about it. 

Russia's Memorial Forced to Downsize its Tribute to Stalinist Victims

“The point in returning the names is that we’re naming the victims,” said Yan Rachinsky, the chairman of Memorial’s board. “But the question inevitably arises: If there are victims of crime, then there are criminals, and there are reasons for the crime. These are no longer things that our authorities are ready to discuss.”

At 40, Springsteen's "Nebraska" Holds Up as a Harbinger of Rural Despair

"It sold poorly and due to its troubling themes, Springsteen did not take it on tour. Nebraska was left to speak for itself. Today, exactly 40 years after its release, that voice is no less disquieting."

SCOTUS Affirmative Action Cases Hinge on History of Brown and the 14th Amendment

by Linda Greenhouse

Neither Brown nor the 14th Amendment were driven by a belief in a "colorblind" Constitution; instead, they were rooted in the historically specific context of racial oppression. The plaintiffs in two cases before the court want to obscure that history, says veteran court reporter Linda Greenhouse.

U of Florida Faculty Senate Votes No Confidence in Process that Selected Sen. Sasse as President

The vote of the representative body was 67-15. A faculty member of the search committee addressed the senate and denied any pressure to name Sasse. 

Florida's Arrests of Voters with Felony Convictions Echoes Post-Reconstruction Era

Felon disenfranchisement dates back to Florida's first constitution in 1838; after Florida's voters approved a constitutional amendment, Governor Ron DeSantis's administration has instituted loopholes to prevent people from exercising that right and making public arrests that are likely to make many convicted Floridians think better of trying. 

Michigan GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Claimed in 2020 Dems Plotted Overthrow of US in Retaliation for Losing Civil War

Tudor Dixon used a far-right streaming network to make this claim in 2020; she also has made unfounded claims about abortion and schools teaching socialist ideology. 

Stevie Wonder's "Talking Book" at 50

Musical collaborators and artists later influenced by Stevie Wonder's declaration of musical independence explain the album's creation and impact. 

Newly Translated Documents Give Fuller Picture of Nuclear Danger During Cuban Missile Crisis

The National Security Archive has released an English translation of the account of a Soviet submarine officer of events in October 1962 tells the story of how his vessel's commander nearly launched nuclear weapons against US Navy ships enforcing the quarantine of Cuba.  

Spain's New Citizenship Law for Exiles from Franco Portends Massive Return from Latin America

Between the beginning of the Spanish Civil War and the end of the dicatorship in 1978, an estimated 2 million Spaniards fled political persecution by leaving the country. 

Urban Unrest, Stagflation, and Labor Strife: Why is 1970s Economic Policy Coming Back, Too?

Is panicky use of weak historical analogies driving economic policy back to the 1970s when the country is still suffering from the fallout of the first round of austerity politics? 

The Moral Corruption of Holocaust Fiction

A popular book for young readers strips the Holocaust of its horror, and its victims of their Jewishness in favor of banal lessons about empathy and kindness. 

How Black Landowners in North Carolina are Working to Recover Generational Wealth

Parts of eastern North Carolina are a living historical counterfactual: Black families there have been more successful than elsewhere in holding title to farm land against the encroachment of industry and discriminatory credit.