Breaking News

Ken Burns Argues He's not "Taking Up Too Much Space"

The documentarian joins Kara Swisher's "Sway" podcast, focusing on how digital technology is changing the practice of reconstructing the past and whether Burns's films are taking too much airtime as PBS seeks to diversify its stable of producers. 

How to Make Jim Jordan Talk about January 6? Ask Jefferson Davis

by Sidney Blumenthal

Jefferson Davis compelled the testimony of his Senate colleague William Seward about whether he had prior knowledge of John Brown's raid at Harper's Ferry. Rep. There's no reason why Jim Jordan shouldn't be likewise made to answer questions. 

Southern Children Need to Hear the Truth about History

Opinion writer Margaret Renkl examines the controversy over an elementary school social studies reading list as an exercise in denial. 

The Photographers Who Captured the Great Depression

Intended as a promotional program for New Deal agricultural programs, the Farm Security Adminstration's sponsorship of Gordon Parks, Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange and other photographers sparked an aesthetic revolution. 

The Big Money Behind the Big Lie

by Jane Mayer

The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, based in Wisconsin, is a key connection between past reactionary movements and contemporary efforts to sow doubt about the integrity of elections and potentially place partisan Republicans in charge of counting future votes. 

Sen. Hawley: Public Schools Must Make Kids Love America and the Founding

by Josh Hawley

Senator Josh Hawley argues that public schools are obligated to teach "the truth about our history and our purpose that unites us as a nation."

Is a Group of New Deal Descendants Influencing the Biden Administration?

A group of "descendants" – relatives of New Deal officials – is working to keep discussion of FDR's social and economic policy alive in the hopes that it will shift the Biden administration in a more activist direction. 

Army to Memorialize Black Soldier Lynched on Georgia Base 80 Years Ago

“To be lynched as you’re in service to the United States Army?” said Richard Liebert, a retired Army officer who trained at Fort Benning in the 1970s and ’80s. Liebert, who is White, has for the past five years pressed the Army to recognize this young soldier.

Elephant Statues Commemorating D.W. Griffith Removed from Hollywood and Highland Plaza

The statues were an homage to Griffith's film "Intolerance," widely seen as a rebuke of the NAACP and other critics who denounced the racism of his prior pro-KKK film "Birth of a Nation." 

95% of Capitol Sculptures Depict Men. Will That Change Soon?

Sen. Amy Klobuchar is a leader of a group of Senators who hope to increase the representation of women in the Capitol statuary. 

Ron Popeil, Inventor and Ubiquitous Infomercial Pitchman, Dies at 86

"Mr. Popeil’s mastery of television marketing, dating to the 1950s but spanning several decades, made him nearly as recognizable onscreen as the TV and movie stars of his era."

The Hiawatha Asylum: The Threat Behind Indian Boarding Schools

“People vanished out of boarding schools; people went to jail and didn’t come back. People didn’t know where their relatives were, so it’s still a shock. It’s like finding out you had somebody in your family who was in a concentration camp."

What It Looks Like to Reconnect Black Communities Torn Apart by Highways

An interactive feature shows the impact of highway building on Black communities throughout the urban United States, and prospects for reconnecting neighborhoods previously divided by asphalt. 

Where They Stood: A Photojournalist Documents the Nation's Fallen Confederate Monuments

"Last fall, I began to document the Confederate monuments that have been taken down since George Floyd’s death. In April, I started a five-week, 7,300-mile road trip throughout the South to continue this work."

Selling the Holocaust?

Writer Menachem Kaiser discusses the genre of Holocaust writing and the engagment of the generation of grandchildren of survivors with Jewish Currents editors Arielle Angel and Maia Ipp. 

Fifty Years Since the War on Drugs

"This summer marks 50 years since the war on drugs began under President Richard Nixon. But the opioid overdose epidemic continues to ravage the country, and incarceration—especially of Black people—has skyrocketed over the past 5 decades." 

Texas Lawmakers Used MLK’s Words To Attack Critical Race Theory. MLK III Says His Father’s Work Actually Supports It

“Yes, we should judge people by the content of the character and not the color of their skin — but that is when we have a true, just, humane society where there are no biases, where there is no racism, where there is no discrimination,” Martin Luther King III said. “Unfortunately, all of these things still exist.”

The Void That Critical Race Theory Was Created to Fill

by Lauren Michelle Jackson

Legal Scholar Lauren Michelle Jackson argues that liberal defenders of Critical Race Theory have sanded the edges off a body of scholarship that does aim to radically change the way that power is constituted through law. 

Critical Race Theory: A Brief History

CRT pioneers Kimberlé Crenshaw and Mari Matsuda explain how and why they developed critical perspectives on racism in legal scholarship and how little the current debate has to do with their ideas. 

Should Rep. Lauren Boebert Visit Auschwitz after her Comparison of COVID Mandates to the Holocaust?

"The Holocaust used to be out of bounds in political discourse because its enormity shocked the world—at least the free world. The original enforcer of this norm was conscience."