Books and Ideas

The Bald Eagle Perfectly Embodies America’s Flaws

The Bald Eagle Perfectly Embodies America’s Flaws The Bald Eagle Perfectly Embodies America’s Flaws

Our national bird isn’t what we believe it to be—but it is the perfect bird for an imperfect country.

Jun 12, 2026 / Alexandra Tey

Jacob Lawrence, detail from Struggle Series—No. 10: Washington Crossing the Delaware, 1954.

The Art of the American Revolution Across the Generations The Art of the American Revolution Across the Generations

The United States’ founding moment from Washington Crossing the Delaware to the paintings of Jacob Lawrence, Kara Walker, and Kent Monkman.

Jun 11, 2026 / Books & the Arts / Rachel Hunter Himes

A depiction of the tarring and feathering of a British Customs commissioner in Boston.

The Contradictions of 1776 The Contradictions of 1776

From the outset the United States was founded to protect both freedom and slavery.

Jun 10, 2026 / Books & the Arts / Gerald Horne

Sonny Rollins’s first appearance in print, at age 15 (pictured at right), was in an article about his father’s case.

Sonny Rollins Lived to See Justice for His Wrongly Convicted Father Sonny Rollins Lived to See Justice for His Wrongly Convicted Father

The jazz legend fought for nearly 80 years to clear his father of racially motivated charges.

Jun 10, 2026 / Aidan Levy

“The New World,” c. 1546.

The Entwined History of Capitalism and Race in the Americas and Beyond The Entwined History of Capitalism and Race in the Americas and Beyond

Better to start the history of the United States in 1492 than in 1776.

Jun 10, 2026 / Books & the Arts / Bill Fletcher Jr.

Commemorative print celebrating the passage of the 15th Amendment.

The Centuries-Long Struggle to Make the Constitution Equal for All The Centuries-Long Struggle to Make the Constitution Equal for All

The effort to transform the United States’ founding document into a vehicle for egalitarian politics.

Jun 9, 2026 / Books & the Arts / Steven Hahn

Nation Poetry

The Flame of a Silent Fort The Flame of a Silent Fort

Jun 9, 2026 / Books & the Arts / Ahmad Shamlou

Special Issue: America at 250

Special Issue: America at 250 Special Issue: America at 250

The debate over our national experiment is as old as the country, and as new as this issue of The Nation.

Jun 9, 2026 / Feature / Katrina vanden Heuvel and John Nichols

Bust of Thomas Paine atop his monument at New Rochelle, New York.

Tom Paine’s Fight Tom Paine’s Fight

The pamphleteer’s insistence that America live up to its revolutionary vows still rings true 250 years later.

Jun 9, 2026 / John Nichols

A map showing the US empire in 1898

On “The Nation” and Empire On “The Nation” and Empire

Our magazine has refused to accept what contributor Gore Vidal once described as the “cozy unremitting war” that puts this country in a state of conflict, year after year.

Jun 9, 2026 / Katrina vanden Heuvel for The Nation

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