Recently Published

The Traitor King: Edward VIII and The Future of the British Monarchy

by Andrew Lownie

The author of a new book on the post-royal lives of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson says that the hard lesson they learned—the brand comes before the family—will see the Royal Family through to a future despite scandal and resignation. 

The Edmund Burke Foundation Betrays its Namesake and Threatens Liberty with "National Conservatism"

by Thomas Lecaque and J.L. Tomlin

The Edmund Burke Foundation has claimed the mantle of the foundational conservative in its recent manifesto, but what the document articulates is a blueprint for an authoritarian, theocratic society that owes more to European fascism.

50 Years Ago, a SCOTUS Decision Placed a Moratorium on Executions. It's Time to Revive it, Permanently

by Rick Halperin

Fifty years ago this week, the Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty violated the Constitution, opening a de facto moratorium as states legislated new capital punishment statutes. It's time to make this brief victory for human rights permanent. 

We Are All Americans Here: The Crisis of Civic Empathy and our Besieged Democracy

by Chris J. Magoc

Many Americans are living in a state of grief at the rise of a movement led by an authoritarian sociopath. The answer is to rediscover through action a sense of shared humanity. 

Watergate at 50: Did Kennedy Loyalists Squelch a 1968 "October Surprise" that Could Have Beaten Nixon?

by James H. Barron

Did Democratic party insiders bury the story of Richard Nixon receiving campaign funds from the Greek military junta because they disliked the Greek exile journalist who broke the news? 

Russia's Justifications for Invasion Don't Hold Up Any Better Now than in February

by Lawrence Wittner

The alleged threat of Ukraine's NATO membership, supposed "denazification" and claims of cultural unity all fall flat; none excuse Russia's violation of Article 2 of the United Nations Charter. 

Clearing the Name of a Horse Blamed for Near-Defeat at Waterloo

by Stephen Dando-Collins

A failed cavalry attack nearly doomed Wellington at Waterloo. For years, Major General William Ponsonby's Irish horse was blamed to deflect from the tactical mistakes of human officers. 

What Prohibition History Tells Us about Returning Abortion to the States

by Richard F. Hamm

Federal control of interstate commerce and the mail mean that medical abortifacents will be difficult for state-level antiabortion politicians to keep out of their borders. There's no doubt that they will seek to pass federal laws leading to a national abortion ban. 

Will Artificial Intelligence be the Agent of Capitalism's (and Humanity's) Creative Destruction?

by Jim Castagnera

Between science fiction and the political economy of the present, the author wonders if artificial intelligence will constitute humanity's successor species. 

"Oh, We Knowed What Was Goin’ On": The Myths (and Lies) of Juneteenth

by Clyde W. Ford

After the myths of Juneteenth are stripped away, the day symbolizes the incompleteness of the promise of emancipation. 

Florida's Divisive Concepts Bill Mistakes What Historians Do, with Dire Implications

by Jessica L. Adler

The legislation would make it difficult – and even legally risky – for professors to perform the kinds of source-driven teaching that underlies the pedagogical goals of the discipline. 

"Our Best Memorial to the Dead Would be Our Service to the Living"

by Allison S. Finkelstein

An overlooked cohort of American women who served in the first world war worked to establish service, instead of statuary, as a mode of memorialization. Their example offers a path out of the heated politics of commemoration. 

Top-Gunning for Empire

by Scott Laderman

"Top Gun: Maverick" is ressurecting the theatergoing experience. Will it do the same for American enthusiasm for the imperial ambitions it represents? 

Trump’s Involvement in the January 6 Conspiracy Is Easy to Prove

by James D. Zirin

A veteran prosecutor explains that the legal standards for conspiracy put Trump in the crosshairs. Whether he faces consequences for the attempted coup, however, is a question of politics. 

As an Island, Britain Became a Stage for Roman Politicians

by Richard Hingley

The conquest of Britain mattered to Roman emperors not for the island's strategic significance, but because it signaled a ruler's mastery of the ancient deity Oceanus and thus his worthiness in domestic politics. 

Should the USPS Honor the Sabbath, or Amazon?

by Rebecca Brenner Graham

A Pennsylvania postal worker's lawsuit claims religious discrimination because he was scheduled to deliver Amazon packages on Sunday. The history of Sunday mail service shows the case is about anxiety over power in society as much as religious obligation. 

Regimes Around the World are Manipulating History and Threatening Historians

by Ruben Zeeman

Official attempts to hinder bona fide historical research and debate through legislation or other means, are the first signals that history is at risk of abuse – such efforts abroad are also a warning to historians in America. 

Is the Republican Party Willing to Purge its Extremists?

by Jeff Kolnick

Beginning in the 1920s, the Democratic Party began the long, difficult, and politically costly process of dissociation from white supremacy. Do today's Republicans who claim to reject extremism have the courage to do the same?

Can Ukraine Harness the Power of the Small to Survive Russia's Attack?

by Paul J. Croce

While Ukraine’s fate hangs in the balance, its greatest strengths, like those of lowly insects and microscopic pathogens, rests with its readiness to use the strengths of the small.

The Dobbs Decision Punctures the Supreme Court's Sacred Mythology

by Alan J. Singer

The Supreme Court uses a myth of its own impartiality to justify a legacy of judicial review that is tainted by its service to slavery and Jim Crow.