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Putin's Far from the Only Autocrat Abusing History

by Katie Stallard

"As Putin is currently demonstrating, questionable historical narratives in faraway autocracies are a problem for democracies too."

Natchez's Deacons For Defense HQ on National Register of Historic Places

A Natchez barbershop will be recognized as the meeting place of the group organized for Black community self-defense against racist terrorism. 

"Pachinko" Tells History of Korean Women in Mid-20th Century Japan

The Apple+ series, based in a fictionalized narrative of Korean immigration to Japan, concludes with interview footage of eight women, now all more than 90 years old, who lived this history. 

NMAAHC and Local Historians Team Up to Preserve Tale of Maryland Freedmen's School

"A month before the Civil War formally ended, a 20-year-old Black woman and prolific writer named Edmonia Highgate came from upstate New York to Harford County to launch a school for former slaves."

With Educational Gag Orders, The Vagueness is the Point

The failure of states to offer precise guidance for which lessons are acceptable and which aren't suggests that "divisive concepts" laws and other legislation are intended to chill teachers' ability to discuss politically sensitive subjects. 

Montpelier Board Pushes Back Against Accusation they Excluded Descendants' Committee Leadership

The Montpelier Foundation board argues that the organization representing the descendants of those enslaved at James Madison's estate has rejected good faith cooperation in order to score political points in the latest escalation of the battle over how the Founder's relationship to slavery should be portrayed. 

The Fatal Siloing of Abortion Advocacy

by Meaghan Winter

It was a strategic mistake for abortion rights advocates to emphasize the right to individual choice instead of the vast issues of economic justice, workforce quality, educational equity and personal safety that are impacted by whether women can control their own reproduction. 

How "Divisive Concepts" Laws are Targeting Universities

A survey of recent legislation affecting the teaching of "divisive concepts" in history and other courses, plus changes to what kinds of diversity trainings are required or permitted in multiple states. 

How Dennis Hopper Ran the Wildest Party House in Hollywood

The house of the actor and his wife Brooke Hayward was a gathering place of fertile movements in film, arts and music that made the 1960s. 

Robert Moses is Dead. Making Him a Bogeyman Keeps Planners from Understanding Racism

By condemning the big projects Moses favored, planners excuse their own involvement in perpetuating the idea that some neighborhoods and some residents are more valuable than others. 

Library of Congress will Acquire Neil Simon's Papers

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden expressed gratitude to Simon's widow Elaine Joyce Simon for the donation, which enhances the library's holdings in performance arts and ensures future researchers will be able to access his work. 

Trying to Change Twitter's Content Moderation is Going to Disappoint Elon Musk

by Evelyn Douek

Musk is delusional if he thinks that Twitter can function without moderation. The problem this highlights is the ability of a small number of billionaires to make the decisions that shape the contemporary public sphere. 

Politics as Usual Won't Stop Mass Shootings – A Discussion with Gun Culture Scholar Pat Blanchfield

Our society has developed and institutionalized a set of public rituals of disbelief and incredulity around mass shootings that direct anger and pain away from organizing and let politicians off the hook. 

Will the Dems Use 14th Amendment to Punish States for Voting Rights Crackdowns?

Congress is entitled under the Amendment to strip states of representation if they don't maintain a republican form of government. Do proposed voting rights restrictions and other red-state legislation qualify? 

For Black Detroiters, the City's History of Mutual Aid is as Relevant as Ever

by Nate File

"The mutual aid movement here is steeped in history and working to build the city that politicians and private actors have promised for decades but failed to deliver."

Union Organizing in the Long Shadow of the Gilded Age

by Daisy Pitkin

On listening to Andrew Carnegie's "The Gospel of Wealth" in Pittsburgh's Carnegie Library as librarians perform the kind of social services Carnegie deplored (and try to organize a union, which he deplored more). 

Penn Law Prof Amy Wax's Anti-Indian Rant Excludes Inconvenient History

by Suhag Shukla

Attributing Indian American criticism of racism to "resentment" of "the west" is rooted in ignorance of the colonial looting of the Indian subcontinent and the experiences of South Asians in general and Hindus in particular in the United States. 

Montpelier Descendants Call Foul on Board over Firings

The firing of three senior staff members who support the involvement of the Montpelier Descendants Committee in the public presentation of James Madison's estate, and the slavery practiced there, has raised questions about whether Montpelier is committed to historical honesty. 

How China's Nuclear Arms Buildup Will Make a Tripolar World, and What it Means for Peace

by Andrew F. Krepinevich, Jr.

"There is nothing the United States can do to prevent China from joining it and Russia as the world’s top nuclear powers, but there are things that U.S. strategists and defense planners can do to mitigate the consequences."

Nepotistic Legacy Admissions are the Gaping Loophole of American Meritocracy

by Richard Reeves

Is a campaign of shaming over legacy admissions necessary to shift American norms away from tolerating these policies that reproduce generational privilege?