History

Martin Luther King Jr. at the March on Washington

Martin Luther King’s Dream at 60 Martin Luther King’s Dream at 60

King offered Americans the choice between acting in accordance with the constitution and resistance—often violent—to change.  In many ways, we face the same choice today.

Aug 28, 2023 / Eric Foner

Drew Faust on Growing Up in the ’60s

Drew Faust on Growing Up in the ’60s Drew Faust on Growing Up in the ’60s

A conversation with Harvard’s first woman president about how she became a civil rights and anti-war activist.

Aug 28, 2023 / Q&A / Jon Wiener

 Was the Collapse of US-Russia Relations Inevitable?

Was the Collapse of US-Russia Relations Inevitable? Was the Collapse of US-Russia Relations Inevitable?

How US hubris and Russian paranoia undermined partnership.

Aug 22, 2023 / Feature / Thomas Graham

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

Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer writes on a blackboard at Princeton, 1957

The Jewishness of “Oppenheimer” The Jewishness of “Oppenheimer”

Jewish Currents writers and editors Mari Cohen, David Klion, and Raphael Magarik on a surprising movie about the American left.

Aug 18, 2023 / Podcast / Jeet Heer

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

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