History

A scene from the film “Orphans of the Storm” depicting a group carrying a sign bearing the slogan “Liberté, Egalité et Fraternité,” 1921.

The History of Equality: It’s Complicated The History of Equality: It’s Complicated

A conversation with the historian Darrin McMahon about his new book Equality: The History of an Elusive Idea and the strange and contradicting development of the liberal version o...

Nov 16, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins

Santiago, Chile, June 1973.

How Pinochet’s Chile Became a Laboratory for Neoliberalism How Pinochet’s Chile Became a Laboratory for Neoliberalism

A new book examines how a group of University of Chicago–trained economists sought to remake the Chilean economy in the aftermath of 1973.

Nov 14, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Vincent Bevins

Donald Trump, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, and Vince McMhaon at a press conference before Wrestlemania 23, 2007.

The Misunderstood History of American Wrestling The Misunderstood History of American Wrestling

A recent biography of WWE executive Vince McMahon presents him as an entertainment tycoon who changed culture and politics. The real story of his rise is as banal as it is brutal....

Nov 10, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Nadine Smith

Coenties Slip in New York, 1850–1900.

How the New York Waterfront Shaped American Modernism How the New York Waterfront Shaped American Modernism

In The Slip, Prudence Peiffer looks at the role an overlooked neighborhood played in the lives and work of an eclectic set of postwar artists.

Nov 6, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Tausif Noor

Barricade fight in Berlin, March 1848.

The Year Europe Revolted The Year Europe Revolted

A new history by Christopher Clark on the 1848 revolutions.

Oct 31, 2023 / Books & the Arts / David A. Bell

The Origins of Race Reductionism

The Origins of Race Reductionism The Origins of Race Reductionism

Today’s conversation around inequality traces back to the compromises made in the late civil rights movement.

Oct 31, 2023 / Class Notes / Adolph Reed Jr.

Letters Icon

Letters From the November 13/20, 2023, Issue Letters From the November 13/20, 2023, Issue

The economics of freedom… Oppenheimer: red or pink?…

Oct 31, 2023 / Letters / Our Readers

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan speaks at a White House press briefing after President Joe Biden gave remarks on the terrorist attacks in Israel, on October 10, 2023.

Jake Sullivan’s Rewrite Can’t Paper Over an Impoverished Foreign Policy Jake Sullivan’s Rewrite Can’t Paper Over an Impoverished Foreign Policy

The national security adviser’s hasty edits make clear the incoherence of Biden’s diplomacy.

Oct 30, 2023 / Jeet Heer

Louis Armstrong Gets the Last Word on Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong Gets the Last Word on Louis Armstrong Louis Armstrong Gets the Last Word on Louis Armstrong

For decades, Americans have argued over the icon’s legacy. But his archives show that he had his own plans.

Oct 30, 2023 / Feature / Ethan Iverson

Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone in “Killers of the Flower Moon,” in theaters now.

Leonardo DiCaprio Is Just the Latest of Martin Scorsese’s Husbands From Hell Leonardo DiCaprio Is Just the Latest of Martin Scorsese’s Husbands From Hell

Killers of the Flower Moon offers a vivid and compelling study of racism as domestic violence.

Oct 27, 2023 / Jeet Heer

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