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The Conservative and the Murderer

Sarah Weinman's book on the friendship between William F. Buckley and convicted murderer Edgar Smith reveals uncomfortable truths about the balance of principle and self-interest in modern conservatism and the persistent tolerance of violence against women. 

Did George Washington Have an Enslaved Son?

West Ford founded the freedmen's town of Gum Springs near Mount Vernon in 1833. Today a preservation effort to protect the town is tied to a bitter conflict with Mount Vernon over whether West Ford was also the unacknowledged son of George Washington. 

He Grew Up With a Dog Named Dixie; Now He's Renaming Military Bases Honoring Confederates

“People try and say ‘Oh, you’re not a patriot because you don’t love the Confederacy.’ No. I love the United States of America. And anybody that kills U.S. Army soldiers, that tries to destroy the country that I love — I can’t honor that.”

American Pundits Can't Resist "Westsplaining" Ukraine

by Jan Smoleński and Jan Dutkiewicz

"For Eastern European scholars like us, it’s galling to watch the unending stream of Western scholars and pundits condescend to explain the situation in Ukraine and Eastern Europe."

Chicago Landmarks Commission Authorizes $250,000 for Rehab of Muddy Waters's House

The grant advances the renovation of the house on Chicago's south side for use as a museum and educational space. 

Our Oligarch? Do Roman Abramovich's Donations Link Major Jewish Philanthropies to Putin?

by David Klion

Abramovich was one of a number of Soviet Jews, excluded from the Communist Party, who moved aggressively into the post-Soviet economy, amassed great fortunes, and either held or fell from favor with Vladimir Putin. Are his enormous donations to global Jewish charities reputation laundering? 

Jan. 6 Commission: Trump Allies Engaged in Potential Criminal Conspiracy to Block Certification

"The court filing is the strongest assertion yet from the committee that it believes Trump and some of his allies potentially committed crimes during the effort to overturn Biden’s victory and by falsely stating repeatedly that the election was stolen."

Yad Vashem Hopes to Shield Oligarch and Major Donor Roman Abramovich from Sanctions

“Mr. Abramovich has contributed to worthy causes for more than a decade,” [Yad Vashem chair Dani] Dayan said. “As far as I know, Mr. Abramovich doesn’t have any links to Mr. Putin.”

Congress Votes Unanimously to Bestow Medal of Honor on Batallion of Black Women Who Served in Europe in WWII

The unit of about 850 women was given a mammoth task of establishing mail logistics after the Allied invasion of France, and succeeded. Only a half-dozen now survive. 

Honduran President Was Washington's Man, Until He Wasn't

Propped up in large part as a bulwark against a leftist political insurgency, Juan Orlando Hernandez's usefulness to American interests has apparently diminished sufficiently for his indictment on drug trafficking charges to proceed. 

Mississippi Museum of Art Exhibition Opens on Legacies of Great Migration

Opening April 9, this exhibition features newly commissioned works by 12 acclaimed Black contemporary artists, including Carrie Mae Weems, Theaster Gates, and more.

Tennessee Charter School Curriculum, Drafted at Hillsdale and Favored by Governor, Rewrites Civil Rights History

Governor Bill Lee favors directing taxpayer funds to a network of charter schools using a curriculum developed at the conservative Hillsdale College that features substantial revisionism in the area of civil rights history. 

The Sectarian Element in Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

by Knox Thames

Despite a broadly common affiliation with Orthodoxy, Russian imperialism seeks to supplant the authority of Ukrainian Orthodox sects with a Russian Orthodoxy more aligned with Putin's regime. 

Report from Ukraine on the Brink

by Tim Judah

Hours before the Russian invasion, many Ukrainians appeared not to believe it was happening. 

WSJ Editorial: Ukraine Surrendered Nuclear Weapons for Hollow Security Promises

Putin's aggression, and western failures to blunt it, spread the dangerous lesson that nations are safer if they keep (or develop) the most dangerous weapons. 

AHA Statement on Bomb Threats to HBCUs

"The AHA condemns this latest in a centuries-old series of assaults on Black Americans and on the educational institutions that are integral to a diverse, free, informed, and open society."

Poll: Clear Majority Rejects Book Bans

Polling shows Americans reject banning books that address racism and believe in the value of difficult lessons. 

Save Libraries, Save the World

Emily Drabinsky is running for the presidency of the American Library Association to defend some of our most vital public institutions. 

Excavation at Mass Grave in County Galway Could Begin This Year

The remains of children buried in a mass unmarked grave in Tuam, County Galway, could be exhumed later this year under newly-published legislation.

Spielberg was the Director Lincoln Deserved

The director, with writer Tony Kushner and star Daniel Day-Lewis, nailed the idea of Lincoln as an imperfect leader nevertheless "fitted to the times we were born into," in a film that holds up after ten years.