History

Jimmy Kimmel at The Walt Disney Company’s 77th Emmy Awards Party on September 14, 2025, in Los Angeles.

How We Defeated Trump on Jimmy Kimmel—Plus, the Attacks on Harvard, Past and Present How We Defeated Trump on Jimmy Kimmel—Plus, the Attacks on Harvard, Past and Present

On Start Making Sense: Bhaskar Sunkara analyzes the resistance to Trump’s attacks on freedom of speech, and Beverly Gage talks about Anti-intellectualism in American Life.

Sep 24, 2025 / Podcast / Jon Wiener

Members of the Mexican armed forces, in Mexican Revolution-era uniforms, parade to mark the 114th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution in Mexico City, Mexico, on November 20, 2024.

A New History of the Americas, Part 2, With Greg Grandin A New History of the Americas, Part 2, With Greg Grandin

The second of a two-part American Prestige series, exploring US–Latin American relations from the Civil War to today, and why revolutionary currents still shape the region.

Sep 23, 2025 / Podcast / Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison

A lithograph illustrating the discovery of iguanodon fossils in Bernissart, Belgium, 1878 (c. 1880).

The Fight Over the Meaning of Fossils The Fight Over the Meaning of Fossils

When the remains of prehistoric creatures were discovered in Europe and the United States, it opened up a vociferous debate on the nature of time and the purpose of science.

Sep 22, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Andrew Katzenstein

Joe Biden at a cabinet meeting in 2021.

The Catastrophe of Democratic Foreign Policy The Catastrophe of Democratic Foreign Policy

A new book on the Biden’s wars serves as a stark reminder that the Democrats need to formulate a new foreign policy—as well as reckon with the one they had.

Sep 9, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Matthew Duss

A broadside advertising a slave auction outside of Brooke and Hubbard Auctioneers office, Richmond, Virginia, July 23, 1823.

Slavery Was Not Just Forced Labor but Sexual Violence Too Slavery Was Not Just Forced Labor but Sexual Violence Too

Calls to attenuate the brutality of slavery in museum depictions is absurd when our institutions already downplay one of its most horrific features.

Sep 3, 2025 / Channing Gerard Joseph

Here Comes the Sun—Plus, “Our Fragile Freedoms”

Here Comes the Sun—Plus, “Our Fragile Freedoms” Here Comes the Sun—Plus, “Our Fragile Freedoms”

On this episode of Start Making Sense, Bill McKibben explains why solar power makes him optimistic, and Eric Foner talks about Trump and history.

Sep 3, 2025 / Podcast / Jon Wiener

Members of the National Guard from multiple states patrol the National Mall, Washington, DC, on August 25, 2025.

Trump’s National Guard Strategy—Plus, the Secret Behind “Huckleberry Finn” Trump’s National Guard Strategy—Plus, the Secret Behind “Huckleberry Finn”

On this episode of Start Making Sense, John Nichols on the military in the cities, and Adam Hochschild on Mark Twain.

Aug 27, 2025 / Podcast / Jon Wiener

A man takes a photograph at Deng Xiaoping Portrait Square in Shenzhen, China, 2020.

How China Engineered the Next Century How China Engineered the Next Century

Dan Wang argues that the battle between China and the United States is simply a conflict between engineers and lawyers. The situation is much more complicated than that.

Aug 26, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Rollin Hu

A worker in a coal yard inside a coal mine in the Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh, India, 2021.

The Myth of Clean Energy The Myth of Clean Energy

Is all the hope placed in renewables an illusion?

Aug 25, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Trevor Jackson

An effigy of President Donald Trump is lowered outside the Pennsylvania State Capitol.

On the Power of Small Acts of Noncompliance On the Power of Small Acts of Noncompliance

At a moment when large-scale resistance can feel futile,
there are other ways to oppose, engage, and fight back.

Aug 18, 2025 / Column / Elie Mystal

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