Recently Published

Three Myths About Reagan, Debunked on His 103rd Birthday

by Monica Gray

Reagan wasn't an empty-suit actor or a nuclear cowboy, but nor was he as natural leader as he seemed.

"There Was No Barrier Between [Seeger] and All of His Friends and Supporters"

by Robin Lindley

Pete Seeger's friend, historian Michael Honey, says Seeger was the rare celebrity who picked up his own phone.

Now Peace Talks -- and John Kerry -- are "Anti-Semitic"

by Juan Cole

The Israeli far right plays its last card.

The Pete Seeger I Remember

by Allan M. Winkler

Seeger was more than just a musician or activist: he was my friend.

Pete Seeger: Singing Out To Seek a Better World

by Ron Briley

Born into a life of privilege, Pete Seeger turned his back on classical music and embraced the music of the people.

Surf Culture Can Teach You A Lot About the Middle East. Seriously.

by Scott Laderman

Conservative critics tore into the Transnational American Studies conference in Beirut last month, and my paper on surf culture in particular. Here's why they're wrong.

Can Buddhists Be Activists?

by David P. Barash

Buddhism is widely seen as quietistic, but that doesn't mean Buddhists can't be engaged in the world.

Remember the Latinos in the "So God Created a Farmer" Super Bowl Ad Last Year? Neither Do We.

by Frank P. Barajas

Here's hoping Dodge takes a more inclusive approach this year.

Remember the 1970s, When Congress Actually Stood Up to the Intelligence Community?

by John Prados

Otis G. Pike, the New York congressman who investigated CIA abuses in 1974, died last week. Politicos today could use his integrity.

Why I Despise @HistoryInPics

by Sarah Werner

@HistoryInPics and similar Twitter streams post “old” pictures and little tidbits of captions for them. That's it. No attribution, no link, no context, and a casual relationship to the truth.

Herman Melville's Other Masterpiece was a History of Baby Seal Clubbing -- And American Empire

by Greg Grandin

"Benito Cereno" is one of the darkest stories in American literature, and based on the life of the seal-clubbing ancestor of FDR.

Enough With the State of the Union Already

by Scot Faulkner

The speech is a pointless exercise in Washington excess, and isn't even in the Constitution.

Ed, Do You Really Want to Invoke Ted?

by Michael Patrick Cullinane

UK Labour Party leader Ed Miliband is fond of citing Teddy Roosevelt's anti-trust crusades, but that's not going to be enough for an electoral victory.

You Won't Believe What Anti-Pot Crusaders Said About Weed in the 1970s

by Emily Dufton

Reefer madness, eat your heart out: One congressman from the '70s sais that youth marijuana use will leave America "with a large population of semi-zombies."

The Perpetrators of the Cambodian Genocide Are *Still* Eluding Justice

by Khatharya Um

Why is Cambodia awash in violence thirty years after the genocide? Simple: because Khmer Rouge officials are still in power today.

The Secret Behind Rob Ford's Amazing Popularity

by Jay Young

Toronto's drug-addled mayor could very well win re-election, due to his appeal to suburban Toronto voters.

Is Obama Brave Enough to Give an Address as Radical as Grover Cleveland's?

Now this was a Message to Congress Americans would remember.

Surveillance is the Time-Tested Weapon to Ensure U.S. Global Power

by Alfred McCoy

From the Philippines to the Army's "shoe-leather" surveillance to COINTELPRO, snooping has been an important guarantor of Washington's power for over a century.

Doris Kearns Goodwin Tackles the “Irrepressible Conflict” of 1912

by Sheldon M. Stern

William Howard Taft and Theodore Roosevelt used to be the closest of intimates... until the election of 1912.

The Endless Arms Race

by Lawrence S. Wittner

Despite Great Power promises, more nuclear weapons are on the way.