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My Father Gave Eichmann the Close-Up He Wanted

The author's father directed the live telecast of Adolf Eichmann's trial in Jerusalem, using a cinematographical approach to raise the harrowing question of how a bureaucratic mediocrity could have engineered a genocide. The Israeli government's growing concern with the victims eclipsed this curiosity about the perpetrators. 

New York State Faces Local Backlash for Ban on Native Team Names

New York's state Board of Regents estimates that 60 school districts still use Native-related nicknames or iconography. Under new policies, those schools would lose funding if they don't change the names. 

Another Consequence of Gun Culture: Fake Emergency Calls

Although campus communities are thankful when they don't experience gun violence, shootings have spawned another disruptive phenomenon: the mass shooting hoax. A campus security expert discusses how colleges can respond. 

Right-Wing School Culture Warriors Lost the Last Election Cycle

Although midterm elections aren't always a reliable indicator, educators believe that the appeal of "parents' rights" doesn't extend to efforts to undermine public schools. 

Giving Life to Midwestern Fields and Killing the Great Lakes

Journalist Dan Egan, a longtime follower of the environmental concerns of the Great Lakes region, has a new book examining the role of phosphorous-containing fertilizers in fueling agricultural prosperity and threatening the largest supply of fresh water. 

Between Feinstein and the Blue Slip, Senate Dems Making Historic Blunders on Judiciary

Barack Obama's administration left dozens of vacant federal judgeships for Donald Trump to fill. If the Biden administration repeats this, it won't be only due to Republican obstruction of nominees. 

Are the Millennials Secretly Prosperous?

Writer Jean Twenge says that by comparison to Boomers and Gen Xers at the same stage of life, Millennials aren't doing as badly as believed, though patterns of family formation and childbirth seem to be undergoing a permanent shift. 

Will Louisiana Ban Study of Racism Outright?

Republican state officials in a party resolution appear to hold the position that "inglorious aspects" of American history are too divisive to be discussed in state institutions of highe education. 

Seeking Justice for the Youngest Victims of Belgian Colonialism in the Congo

by Jocelyn C. Zuckerman

Because Belgian colonial policy insisted upon rigid lines of racial hierarchy, mixed-race children who were not acknowledged by their Belgian parent were made wards of the government and institutionalized. 

SCOTUS Seems Ready to Reject Independent State Legislature Idea in a Win for Democracy

by J. Michael Luttig

The retired federal jurist observed oral arguments in a case that would allow state legislatures to reject judicial review in setting the rules of elections, potentially leading to politically-motivated mayhem in federal elections. He thinks that the Court will reject the theory. 

Is Parental Divorce the Hallmark of the Gen X Experience?

As 90s nostalgia gets mined for commercial benefit, a researcher looks at the centrality of divorce in the cultural expressions of Gen X. 

Anti-DEI Bills are Already Changing Higher Ed

Even though many state-level bills banning diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs have not yet taken effect, many campus administrations appear to have begun complying with the political pressure to roll back existing initiatives. 

Leadership Battle at Bob Jones U Shows National Crisis for Christian Colleges

President Steve Pettit, a relative liberalizer of the South Carolina school's strict codes of conduct and conservative sense of mission, is clashing with the chair of the Board of Trustees in a fight that symbolizes the choice between reform and retrenchment that faces many evangelical colleges. 

Greg Abbott Claims to Boost Texas Universities. Why Is He Attacking Tenure?

Attacks on tenure and diversity programs would threaten the improvements Texas politicians say they want to make in higher education in the state, say faculty advocates. 

A Scholar Revisits Study of Campus Diversity 2 Decades Later

"Higher education has an extremely important role to play in helping people see things differently and in potentially helping to reduce racial inequality. But this requires cross-race interaction."

What Peace in Northern Ireland Looks Like at 25

Both Brexit and the recent revelation that Catholics outnumber Protestants in Northern Ireland introduce new tensions into the peace agreements reached in 1998. 

Jeanne Manford's Support for her Gay Son was Revolutionary

At the time Manford began publicly supporting her own gay son and organizing a group for other parents of gay children, 49 states had laws criminalizing gay sex; the scope and bravery of her activism is difficult to appreciate today. 

Who Attacked Jascha Heifetz in 1953?

Although ties to Jewish extremist organizations were suspected, the person who attacked a violinist in 1953, allegedly for performing the works of Richard Strauss, has never been found. The story resonates with conflicts in Israeli society today. 

A Ruling that Threatens the Future of Libraries

by Adam Serwer

The Internet Archive is at the center of a case that would effectively require libraries to pay fees to lend electronic scans of books they properly own. 

Can Virginia Preserve the Sites of "Green Book" Travel from the Jim Crow Era?

A new law in Virginia would declare the sites promoted as safe and welcoming for Black travelers in a widely-circulated travel guide from the segregation era to be historic and worthy of protection against development.