Breaking News

After Winning as An Activist Preacher, Can Warnock Win Again as an Effective Pragmatist?

After winning a close special election, Raphael Warnock needs to find a way to notch small victories in a nearly deadlocked Senate as he seeks election to a full term. 

Commission Recommends Change to Massachusetts State Seal, Motto

Activists and members of the state’s Indigenous population have long objected to the image, which one critic called the “last state flag of white supremacy.”

Former Star Keyshawn Johnson: Football Hall Must Honor "Forgotten Four" Integration Pioneers

Kenny Washington, Marion Motley, Woody Strode and Bill Willis reintegrated the NFL in 1946, breaking a "gentlemen's agreement" among the owners not to sign Black players. 

How Hitler's Favorite Passion Play Lost its Anti-Semitism

The Oberammergau Passionspiele in the 1930s garnered praise from Hitler for its vilification of Jews for the death of Christ. Today, the village production reflects Germany's efforts to eradicate antisemitism from many of its traditional cultural products, though that process is slow and contentious. 

Orban's American Apologists

by John Ganz

Why is the leader of a small and politically insignificant European nation suddenly a celebrated hero for the American right? Orban's brand of nationalism represents a test of how far ethnonationalists can go in public. 

How Decades of Coal Mining Left West Virginia Vulnerable to Flooding

For a century, coal mining companies have taken billions of dollars of wealth out of eastern Kentucky, stripped the land of vegetation that can contain flood waters, and contributed to the climate change making severe storms more frequent, while leaving little for the people who live there. 

Youngkin's Neoconfederate Nominee to State Historical Board Resigns

Ann Hunter McLean resigned after facing controversy for her remarks about Confederate monuments and the causes of the Civil War. 

Can 500 Dinner Discussions Bring Atlantans to Recognition and Reconciliation over the 1906 Race Massacre?

Local activists seek to overcome a local pattern of forgetting of the events of 1906, a collective amnesia supported by the city's black and white leaders who have favored the image of a harmonious city as part of a good business climate. 

Remember Vin Scully With His Classic Call of the Last Outs of Sandy Koufax's Perfect Game

The legendary broadcaster's ability to say just enough to frame the drama of a moment without overshadowing it was on full display on September 9, 1965 at Dodger Stadium. 

A Substantive Due Process Explainer: What Was the Basic Weakness of Roe?

The application of the 14th Amendment to extend broad guarantees of individual rights is recent; the history of the doctrine of substantive due process has more frequently been used to protect the interests of corporations and the powerful. It's time for a new legal approach.

The Battle over Reproductive Freedom Still Rages at Dr. George Tiller's Former Clinic

"It’s been more than a decade since Tiller was murdered, but at Trust Women, which reopened and rebranded under his protégé Julie Burkhart in 2013, the past has a habit of lingering outside the gates."

The Demise of the Church-State Wall

by Steven V. Mazie

A political scientist and court correspondent says that SCOTUS has adopted a radical version of the "free exercise" clause of the First Amendment that makes a mockery of the historic separation of religious and political authority. 

Post-Cold War Interventions show Military Restraint is the Key to Protecting Human Rights

by Aslı Bâli

America's foreign policy establishment must "right-size" its expectations about the ability of US military power to secure desired outcomes, and prepare to embrace non-coercive approaches to human rights crises that will be precipitated by climate change and food crises. 

Early America's Complicated Relationship with Abortion Access

The Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade relied heavily on the argument that, in Justice Samuel Alito’s words, “a right to abortion is not deeply rooted in the nation’s history and traditions.” Paul Solman takes a look at that history, as part of our continuing coverage of America after Roe.

How Trumpism Changed the Claremont Institute (and Vice-Versa)

The actions of John Eastman in urging the rejection of the 2020 election results and urging Trump supporters to storm the capitol raise questions for both participants and critics about how far the Claremont Institute should go in putting ideas into action. 

Tulsa Schools Downgraded by State after Teacher Complains Implicit Bias Training "Shames" White People

“In Tulsa, we are teaching our children an accurate — and at times painful, difficult, and uncomfortable — history about our shared human experience. We also teach in a beautifully diverse community and need our team to work together to be prepared to do that well,” reads a district statement on the decision. 

The Racist Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment was Exposed 50 Years Ago

The study ran for 40 years, as nearly 400 Black men were diagnosed with syphilis but denied care so that scientists could study the progression of the disease, even after penicillin was available as an effective and safe treatment. 

At 75, the CIA is Back to Battling the Kremlin

The common objectives and concerns that engaged the Central Intelligence Agency at its 1947 founding are familiar to the intelligence community today, showing the continuity of American involvement in other nations' affairs. 

Pope Francis Seeks Forgiveness from Indigenous Canadians over Residential School Abuses

"I am deeply sorry, sorry for the ways in which, regrettably, many Christians supported the colonizing mentality of the powers that oppressed the Indigenous peoples," Francis said.

Shark Hysteria Began More than a Century Ago

A series of attacks on the Jersey Shore in 1916 sparked a wave of sensationalism and a national "war on sharks" that continues today.