Nation Topics - John Adams | The Nation

Gitmo in the present millennium is no departure at all from the American tradition in Guantánamo Bay.

As intense protests spawned by Occupy Wall Street continue to grow, it is worth asking: Why now? The answer is not obvious. 

Is the cultural commons a viable alternative to the copyright regime, or does it risk turning culture into a consumerist slum?

Jack Rakove's Revolutionaries shows the founders as real people in motion instead of as Olympian gods.

A historical parallel that might add to Cole's well-put points, particularly regarding lawyers defending Guantánamo detainees: John Adams agreed to serve as defense attorney for the British soldiers who fired on Americans in the Boston Massacre. He believed it strengthened the American cause to give the British soldiers a fair trial.

Johann Hari's piece "The Wrong Kind of Green" takes mainstream environmental groups to task for selling out their principles, often in exchange for money from the worst polluters.  We invited a range of green groups mentioned in the article to respond to Hari's arguments in this special online forum.

Gordon S. Wood defends Jefferson--again.

What are the intellectual costs of recasting Lincoln and Darwin into heroes for our troubled times?

It was Tom Paine, ink-stained wretch and citizen of the world, who first roused American patriots to action.

The families of the students shot by the National Guard at Kent
State go to court to seek a measure of justice, but the federal
government continues to stonewall them.