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What Should Drive Biden’s Foreign Policy?

Columnist and Humphrey biographer James Traub says the former Senator and VP's interventionist liberalism in foreign policy is a model for Joe Biden's administration to reestablish American preeminence in world affairs. 

Serious Historians are Criticizing Trump’s 1776 Report. It’s How Most U.S. History is Already Taught

by Matthew Nelsen

Political scientist Matthew Nelsen argues that the proponents of the 1776 Commission's "patriotic" history are defending an outdated curriculum against well-founded challenges, not protecting real history from trendy cultural politics. 

The San Francisco School District’s Renaming Debacle Has Been A Historic Travesty

"Our Board of Education chose to ratify each and every finding from the renaming committee — even when historical errors and methodological recklessness was known."

Sun Records, Storied Early Rock Label, Sells Its High-Wattage Catalog

"In the 1950s, Sun Records in Memphis became one of the most dynamic forces in American music, releasing the first recordings by Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and others, helping define rockabilly and rock ’n’ roll."

Opinion: Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Vile New Antics Highlight A 50-Year GOP Story

Washington Post Political Columnist Greg Sargent says that Marjorie Taylor Greene's conspiratorial bigotry reflects a historical problem with the Republican Party: the porous boundary between the mainstream and the extremist fringe. But that boundary is weaker than ever today.

How a Dead Professor Is Teaching a University Art History Class

"Will faculty essentially automate away their own jobs by recording lectures that can be recycled year after year?"

San Francisco School Board Votes to Rename 44 Schools, Including Abraham Lincoln and George Washington High Schools

The San Francisco School Board approved the renaming of 44 schools commemorating figures ranging from George Washington to Dianne Feinstein.

No More Lies. My Grandfather Was a Nazi

"Suddenly, I no longer had any idea who my grandfather was, what Lithuania was, and how my own story fit in. How could I reconcile two realities? Was Jonas Noreika a monster who slaughtered thousands of Jews or a hero who fought to save his country from the Communists?" writes Silvia Foti. 

Make the Filibuster Difficult Again

by Burt Neuborne and Erwin Chemerinsky

Two law professors argue that there's no need to remove the Senate filibuster. Insisting that Senators actually talk through the filibuster and that no other Senate business could be conducted during one would return to Senate rules that made the filibuster rare, rather than a routine procedure. 

Columbia Students Wage the Largest Tuition Strike in Nearly 50 Years

"Organizers say that at least 1,100 students are now actively withholding tuition, and a petition in support of the strike has so far collected more than 4,300 student signatures." 

History Shows Americans Have Always Been Wary of Vaccines

Medical historian Keith Wailoo addressed a recent Smithsonian webinar on the history of American hostility to vaccination, joining public health experts. 

The Mirage of the Black Middle Class

by Anne Helen Petersen

Economic policy debates center on restoring the security of the middle class, but this overlooks that high-earning Black Americans have and still face structural impediments to building wealth through homeownership. 

Out of the Barrel of a Gun

The resurgent militia movement and renewed attention to the threat of political violence compels a reckoning with the vast number of firearms in America and with the political significance of guns. 

Cheech Marin’s Chicano Art Museum Is to Open This Fall

“My motto has always been that you can’t love or hate Chicano art unless you see it in person,” Marin said. “And now people will have a place to always see it.”

Lone Wolves Connected Online: A History of Modern White Supremacy

Forty years ago, Louis Beam had the idea of using the internet to drive a movement. Today, his vision is disturbingly prevalent.

Rewinding Jimi Hendrix’s National Anthem

"Jimi’s Woodstock anthem was both an expression of protest at the obscene violence of a wholly unnecessary war and an affirmation of aspects of the American experiment entirely worth fighting for."

The Senate Has Used the Filibuster to Block Civil Rights Bills for Decades. That’s Another Reason for Dems to Ditch It

When the Senate filibuster was used sparingly, it was almost always to stop civil rights legislation. Now, it's used as a matter of routine to stop legislation. Democrats can choose to keep the filibuster or pass laws, but not both. 

Democrats are getting Chuck Grassleyed

The Senate negotiations over the Affordable Care Act and the 2009 Recovery Act are not ancient history. It remains to be seen if Senate Democrats can learn from them. 

Five Past Vaccine Drives and How They Worked

"Scientists developed vaccines less than a year after Covid-19 was identified, a reflection of remarkable progress in vaccine technology. But progress in vaccine distribution is another story."

Washington History Seminar TODAY: Claudio Saunt's "Unworthy Republic"

Please join the National History Center of the American Historical Association for a Washington History Seminar roundtable on Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory with author Claudio Saunt. TODAY 4:00 PM EST