History

This Was Never Just About Woody Allen. It Still Isn’t.

This Was Never Just About Woody Allen. It Still Isn’t. This Was Never Just About Woody Allen. It Still Isn’t.

Against the vice cop of the mind.

Mar 27, 2020 / JoAnn Wypijewski

Since Emancipation, the United States Has Refused to Make Reparations for Slavery

Since Emancipation, the United States Has Refused to Make Reparations for Slavery Since Emancipation, the United States Has Refused to Make Reparations for Slavery

But in 1862, the federal government doled out the 2020 equivalent of $23 million—not to the formerly enslaved but to their white enslavers.

Mar 23, 2020 / Feature / Kali Holloway

A Tale of Two Plagues

A Tale of Two Plagues A Tale of Two Plagues

Tips on self-isolation from Daniel Defoe and Giovanni Boccaccio

Mar 20, 2020 / Column / Katha Pollitt

The Long Roots of Corporate Irresponsibility

The Long Roots of Corporate Irresponsibility The Long Roots of Corporate Irresponsibility

Nicholas Lemann’s history of 20th century corporations, Transaction Man, shows how an unrelenting faith in the market and profit doomed the American economy.

Mar 17, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Rick Perlstein

The Protests That Made and Unmade Japan’s Postwar Left

The Protests That Made and Unmade Japan’s Postwar Left The Protests That Made and Unmade Japan’s Postwar Left

The demonstrations against the Anpo treaty remain the largest protest movement in Japanese history and yet their defeat cleared the path for decades of conservative rule.

Mar 3, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Colin Jones

WWII’s Refugee Academics and the Myth of a Welcoming American Academy

WWII’s Refugee Academics and the Myth of a Welcoming American Academy WWII’s Refugee Academics and the Myth of a Welcoming American Academy

Laurel Leff’s Well Worth Saving looks at the lives of Jewish professors who sought asylum in the United States and were denied entry.

Feb 26, 2020 / Hannah Stamler

Donald Trump

Trump Has Lifted the Mask From Our Empty Political Traditions Trump Has Lifted the Mask From Our Empty Political Traditions

His naked callousness has shown plainly that these rituals sometimes reveal the nonsense they’re meant to cover up.

Feb 25, 2020 / Andrew J. Bacevich

The Making of France’s Presidential System

The Making of France’s Presidential System The Making of France’s Presidential System

Focusing on the tensions between top-down reforms and bottom-up democratic discontent, Herrick Chapman’s new history tells a very different story about postwar France.

Feb 18, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Hugo Drochon

Ricardo Piglia’s Books of Disquiet

Ricardo Piglia’s Books of Disquiet Ricardo Piglia’s Books of Disquiet

As he witnessed the dissolution of civil society under a series of repressive governments, the Argentine novelist and critic began recording the most mundane parts of everyday life...

Feb 17, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Jessica Loudis

Trump Oval Office address

The Modern GOP Is Built on Lies The Modern GOP Is Built on Lies

In some ways Trump is more truthful than previous Republican presidents.

Feb 14, 2020 / Column / Eric Alterman

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