Recently Published

To Stop The Rise of Nationalism, We Must Remember High-Tech’s Role in Supporting Past and Present Nationalistic Agendas

by Clyde W. Ford

Since the dawn of the digital age, nationalism has relied on digital technology.

Can Studying Human Evolution Help Us Understand Impeachment?

by David P. Barash

What The Goodness Paradox can teach us about the importance of enforcing societal norms. 

Can a 1960s-like Counterculture Emerge?

by Walter G. Moss

Today we have just as much reason to protest as did the 1960’s dissidents. We need a counterculture, or an opposing culture or way of life, to embolden our emotions and imaginations and challenge "throaway" consumer culture. 

Trump and the Divine Rights of Kings

by Ed Simon

Nobody feels sorrier for themselves than a monarch who discovers that their divine right is an illusion; nobody is more liable to lash out and project the blame for their predicament.

A Democratic GUT-Check: A Grand Unifying Theory of Democratic Victories

by Jeff Bloodworth

The preceding century of Democratic presidential politicking reveals that “electability” is not milquetoast, split the difference centrism. Historically, Democrats win when they adhere to a grand unifying theory (GUT).

The Greatest Danger in the Kurdish Crisis

by Zaman Stanizai

If the heavy-handedness of the Turkish military is any indication, Erdogan seems to be bent on the ethnic cleansing and relocation of Kurds in northern Syria and resettling their lands along the Turkish border with Arab Syrian refugees currently residing in Turkey.

Kurdish Stalingrad: The Origins of the US-YPG Battle Synergy

by Robert Troy Souza

The American president would be wise to familiarize himself with the recent history that led to the small falafel shop in central Kobane that bears his name.

Modi's 'two nations' theory roils India

by B.Z. Khasru

By scraping Kashmir's status, the prime minister has taken a highly risky step toward making the misguided dream of the right-wing Hindu extremists come true and shaken up secular India.

A History of Influencing Presidential Children to Change Policy

by Aaron Coy Moulton

How Dominican Dictator Rafael Trujillo used the ambassador to the Dominican Republic's son to try to influence American foreign policy.  

Melania Trump Just Restarted a 100-Year-Old Political Controversy: The White House Tennis Court

by Ryan Swanson

Presidents, be wary of associating with country club sports during times of political crisis.  

The History Briefing on Indigenous Peoples Day: Why Fewer Places Celebrate Columbus Day

by Elisabeth Pearson

As Trump's statement this past week revealed, despite the increasing deamnds since the 1990s to change Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s day, the public narrative of the holiday is still contested.

An Act of Betrayal and Infamy

by Alon Ben-Meir

To think that the President would sell America’s interests and abandon its allies for the sake of personal financial gain is not merely outrageous but criminal. 

The Internet at 50: Four Steps in Transforming the Digital World

by Harlan Lebo

The internet may have been “born” in October 1969, but it then percolated for years as complex, near-impenetrable masses of data stored in computers around the world. Online technology would evolve for more than two decades before it would become practical for everyone to use. 

RetroReport is Building a Living Library of Modern News Events

by Kyla Sommers

Learn about RetroReport on PBS with this interview with executive producer Kyra Darnton. 

The Founders’ Furious Impeachment Debate--and Benjamin Franklin’s Modest Proposal

by Harlow Giles Unger

“This Magistrate is not the king! The people are the king!”

Rethinking Polygamy: An Interview with Sarah M.S. Pearsall

by Kyla Sommers

"Polygamy controversies place us amid major events in early America because such clashes were about the organization and governance not just of house- holds but of societies, nations, and empires.”

International Resistance in World War 2 Europe

by Olivier Wieviorka

While national histories of wartime resistance are plentiful, the European dimension of the shadow army has rarely been taken into account.

Trump and A History of Presidential Anti-Semitism

by Donne Levy

As with so many Trump blunders, he is apparently ignorant of the history and nature of anti-Semitism in America.

What the Lincoln-Douglas Debates Can Teach Presidential Contenders

by Georgiann Baldino

The Lincoln-Douglas debates became pivotal moments in national politics, and their lessons are vital today.

The United States is Not a Healthy Democracy: An Interview with Richard C. Lyons

by Andrew Fletcher and Jonathan Montano

"Power is aggregating away from the people’s representative assemblies of house and senate and into the executive branches myriad agencies and into the judicial branch."