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Philadelphia Apologizes for Prison Experiments on Inmates

University of Pennsylvania Dermatology professor Albert Kligman tested medicines and other products on prison inmates between 1951 and 1974. 

United Ireland "Closer Now than it's Ever Been"

Both demographic change in the North and shifts in United Kingdom politics have made Irish reunification a reasonable possibility to discuss. 

Religious Colleges on Front Lines of "Critical Race Theory" Battles

An outcry by parents and alumni of Grove City College after a speaking inviation to historian Jemar Tisby, a critic of racism in American Christianity, exemplifies the pressures facing religious institiutions from conservative forces inside and outside. 

Will a Cherokee Nation Delegate be Seated in Congress?

Even without a vote in Congress, Delegates can use the privileges of their position to make a difference. Kimberly Teehee's potential seating as the Cherokee Nation's delegate would create a dedicated voice for Native issues. 

Marfa, TX School to Become National Historic Site Preserving Story of Segregated Mexican Americans

The segregation of Anglo and Mexican students in Texas was not always enforced by law, but local custom and prejudice was sufficient in many places. 

What the Cuban Missile Crisis Tells Us About Putin's Possible Intentions

by Michael Dobbs

The danger of nuclear brinksmanship is not that any one leader is irrational or intransigent, but that even rational leaders can't always control events they set in motion. 

The Writer of "The Onion" SCOTUS Brief Takes Parody Seriously

The satirical newspaper's brief employed the rhetorical mode to lay out the free speech implications of a case involving a man who faced retaliatory arrest for making a parody facebook account for his local police department. 

Justice Jackson's Questioning in Voting Rights Case Shows History Won't be Left to Court's Right Wing

The new Associate Justice pushed back against the idea that the writers of the 14th Amendment intended for it to ensure "color-blind" treatment of voters rather than an affirmative defense of racially inclusive political participation. 

What Lizzo Can Teach the Right about History

Commentator Mona Charen writes that Lizzo's embrace of an artifact of the founding generation should be welcomed by conservatives, who claim to stand for a history shared by all Americans without regard for identity. 

Loretta Lynn, Country Music Star Who Voiced Rural Resilience, Dies at 90

The singer expressed the endurance of hardship but also performed subversive and humorous takes on the changing mores reaching rural America in the 1960s and 1970s. 

Corporate America Copied the NFL's "Rooney Rule"—But Also its Lack of Enforcement

The NFL teams' agreement to interview minority candidates for coaching jobs always had a fault: nothing happened to teams who abused the process and interviewed candidates with no intention of hiring them. 

Will Biden Finally Pardon Callie House?

Callie House led an organization that sought pensions as a form of reparation and relief for formerly enslaved people. In 1917 unfriendly federal officials prosecuted her for mail fraud for circulating her organization's materials. 

Judge Luttig: Independent State Legislature Theory is Nonsense

by J. Michael Luttig

"Such a doctrine would be antithetical to the Framers’ intent, and to the text, fundamental design, and architecture of the Constitution."

What Must Be Done with Native Remains in Texas's Big Bend Region?

Byron Schroeder ran into difficulty tracking down the story of a commerical artifact digging operation on private land. Past participants were reticent because, in addition to artifacts, some had removed human remains. The story highlights the divides between academic and amateur archaeologists and the ethics of digs.

Judge Laurence Silberman Dies—Do His Latter Years Make the Case for Judicial Reform?

A legal observer suggests the influential judge's reputation might have benefitted from judicial term limits, as his penchant for judicial restraint took a hard turn toward activism in decisions on gun control and public pronouncements about confederate monuments. 

Libraries Do Face Attacks, but Not Like the "Freedom Libraries" of 1964

As yet, public attacks on libraries over programming and books dealing with racism and LGBTQ issues have not escalated to the routine firebombing of the libraries founded by activist groups during the "Freedom Summer" to help Black Mississippians access books and political information. 

The Fatal Attraction to Florida

by Diane Roberts

Growth may make the Sunshine State unlivable. 

Inuit Greenland Women Demand Answers, Justice in Birth Control Scandal

In the late 1960s and 1970s, up to half of reproductive-aged women in Greenland were implanted with IUDs, often without informed consent. 

Forget Inflation: GOP Reviving Willie Horton (and It's Working)

by Will Bunch

"The GOP is partying like it’s 1988 — the year that scary pictures of a felon they called Willie Horton and grainy images of Black crime saved a party equally devoid of actual policies," says columnist Will Bunch. 

Native Activist Sacheen Littlefeather, Known for 1973 Oscar Protest, Dies at 75

The Academy had earlier this year issued an apology to Littlefeather for the abuses she endured after protesting the depiction of Native Americans in films during the Oscars ceremony.