History

Former Senator Phil Gramm (R-Tex.) as his hero, Ebenezer Scrooge.

Republicans Are Gaslighting Us on Poverty Republicans Are Gaslighting Us on Poverty

Claims that poverty in America has been eliminated, and that “idleness” is the only barrier to a life of middle-class comfort, would be funny—if they weren’t so dangerous.

Aug 21, 2023 / Brad Swanson

Abandoned buildings in The Bronx.

The Persistence of American Poverty The Persistence of American Poverty

“We could afford to end poverty,” Matthew Desmond tells us. That we don’t is a choice.

Aug 21, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Marcia Chatelain

black and white photo of j. robert oppenheimer testifying before the senate

Even as the Oppenheimer Film Rights a Historic Wrong, the Memo That Smeared Him Remains Redacted Even as the Oppenheimer Film Rights a Historic Wrong, the Memo That Smeared Him Remains Redacted

The physicist was punished for opposing development of the hydrogen bomb, and for warning about the dangers of nuclear proliferation.

Jul 21, 2023 / Peter Shinkle

“Bidenomics” vs. “Reaganomics”

“Bidenomics” vs. “Reaganomics” “Bidenomics” vs. “Reaganomics”

What will it take for Biden’s economic agenda to transform the political landscape the way to Reagan’s did?

Jul 21, 2023 / Mike Konczal

Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) attends a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee markup on Wednesday, March 15, 2023.

Josh Hawley Gets an “F” in American History Josh Hawley Gets an “F” in American History

The senator from Missouri is spreading misinformation about the past in order to put a Christian nationalist spin on the present.

Jul 13, 2023 / John Nichols

“Portrait of Juan de Pareja,” by Diego Velázquez

The Many Ghosts of Juan de Pareja The Many Ghosts of Juan de Pareja

Through the life of the 17th-century artist, we can find an entangled history of slavery, Black figuration, and art.

Jul 11, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Rachel Hunter Himes

Black and white photo of pallbearers carrying the coffin of Robert Kennedy

The Other Kennedy Curse The Other Kennedy Curse

Kennedy family mythology is bad history, bad politics—and perhaps as unfair to the living Kennedys as to anyone else.

Jul 11, 2023 / Column / Jeet Heer

Elliott Abrams looking pensive

Henry Kissinger, Elliott Abrams, and the Rot of American Foreign Policy Henry Kissinger, Elliott Abrams, and the Rot of American Foreign Policy

Our bipartisan elite is always willing to forgive war crimes by its made men.

Jul 7, 2023 / Jeet Heer

Mario Vargas Llosa, London, 1986.

The Miseducation of Mario Vargas Llosa The Miseducation of Mario Vargas Llosa

A recent collection, The Call of the Tribe, explains why the Peruvian writer rejected the left and embraced the thinking of Friedrich Hayek and his ilk.

Jul 5, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Jack Hanson

Scene from History of the World Part I

Our Supreme Court Reactionaries Still Fear the French Revolution Our Supreme Court Reactionaries Still Fear the French Revolution

In John Roberts’s America, it’s good to be the king.

Jul 3, 2023 / Jeet Heer

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