Teen Witnesses to 9/11 Reminisce About the Horrors They Saw That Day
New HBO documentary is moving … until it wanders into our current politics.
History
The Peace-Loving Military Robots' Plot
Friday A/V Club: That time NBC broadcast a radical Philip K. Dick fable to a 1950s audience
The 80th Anniversary of the Nazi-Soviet Pact
Today is the anniversary of perhaps the most awful international agreement in all of world history.
The Founders Were Flawed. The Nation Is Imperfect. The Constitution Is Still a 'Glorious Liberty Document.'
As part of its ambitious “1619” inquiry into the legacy of slavery, The New York Times revives false 19th century revisionist history about the American founding.
My Review of an Important New Book on the Supreme Court's Impact on American Federalism
The book by political scientist Michael Dichio argues that the Court has done more to promote centralization than protect states, and is the most thorough analysis to date, of this longstanding issue..
New Woodstock Documentary Should Make Boomers Question Their Accomplishments
If a chaotic concert that nearly failed "defined a generation," what does that actually mean?
Neighborhood Activists Would Rather Preserve Tom's Diner Than Let Its Owner Retire in Peace
Denver NIMBYs are using historic preservation laws to stop a restaurant owner from selling his diner to a developer so he can retire.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Calls Court Packing a 'Bad Idea'
The liberal jurist puts judicial integrity before partisan politics.
The Horror of War and the Thrill of Horror
A new book explores the First World War's role in creating the horror genre.
Paul Krassner: The Lost Interview
A previously unpublished conversation with “investigative satirist” Paul Krassner, who just died at age 87.
Politics, Bar Brawls, and the Law of the Past
What makes history constitutionally relevant?
The Apollo Missions Were Cool, But Private Enterprise Has Been Better for Innovation
People are happier, healthier, and wealthier because freer markets have opened the floodgates of innovation, research, and development.
Renegade University's Thaddeus Russell Wants To Blow Your Mind
This historian and online-education entrepreneur says runaway slaves, ladies of the evening, bootleggers, and other dropouts and discontents made America free.
Marianne Williamson Wants To Win the Presidency With the Power of Love and Miracles
The long American spiritual tradition that gave us Marianne Williamson—and Donald Trump
'Killer' Walkman, 'Insane' Bicycles, and Novels Will Rot Your Brain: Pessimist Archive's Jason Feifer on 'Why We Resist New Things'
Jason Feifer's podcast explores "why we resist new things" and tells great stories about panics over the novel, the elevator, the waltz, margarine, and more.
The Case Against the Case Against the American Revolution
Some on both left and right argue that the American Revolution was a mistake that ultimately caused more harm than good. Here's why they're wrong.
The Universalist Principles of the Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence advocates a polity based on universal principles of liberty and equality, not ethnic nationalism. We would do well to remember those principles today.
It's Donald Trump's America, We Just Live in It. Or Is It?
The president's seeming ability to always get what he wants masks the reality that anything is possible in today's political and cultural landscape.
H.L. Mencken on Independence Day: 'We Have Borne Rascality Since 1776, and We Continue To Survive'
The sage of Baltimore on impeachment, the press, and the people
Celebrate Limited Government on the Fourth of July
Remember that the Declaration of Independence stands for inalienable rights.
Betsy Ross Is Canceled
Plus: Conditions in migrant detention centers "worse than we ever could have imagined" say Democratic lawmakers, Vox discovers anarchist gun owners, and more...
When They See Us Is Compelling Storytelling, but Not All Rings True
A meticulous re-enactment of the misbegotten prosecution of the Central Park Five gets a lot right.
It's Time to Celebrate Juneteenth, America's Other Independence Day
Though Juneteenth is first and foremost a celebration of the end of slavery, the day has evolved in the 21st century.
We're at the 'Concentration Camp Semantics' Stage of 2019 Now
Plus: crackdown on emotional support animals, the difference between "platforms" and "publishers," and more...
Philadelphia Politicians Want to Ban Bay Windows
The supposed symbol of gentrification has become the target of city politicians.
A Round-Up of Posts in the Volokh Conspiracy Symposium on "Our American Story: The Search for a New National Narrative"
A listing with links to all the posts in the series.
Originalism and the Law of the Past
Steve Sachs and I defend originalism against charges of "law office history."
The Declension Narrative
The sixth post in the Volokh Conspiracy symposium on "Our American Story: The Search for a Shared National Narrative" (ed. by Joshua Claybourn).
Introducing the Volokh Conspiracy Symposium on "Our American Story: The Search for a New National Narrative"
The symposium will include posts by contributors to this new book on what makes America and its history distinctive.
Xenophobia and Pseudoscience Shaped U.S. Immigration Policy
Historian Daniel Okrent looks back at the bigoted "intellectual justification" for anti-immigration policies.
The Heartbreaking, Lifesaving Practice of Welcoming 'Unaccompanied' Child Migrants
A history lesson for Americans
Today's Anti-Immigration Script Was Written 100 Years Ago by America's Elite
Historian Daniel Okrent's new book, The Guarded Gate, recounts the history of bigotry, eugenics, and the "intellectual justification" of anti-immigration policies.
The New Green Serfdom
The Green New Deal is a path to a more militarized and authoritarian society.
There's Nothing New About the 'New Conspiracism'
A pair of political scientists think they've identified a new kind of conspiracy thinking. They haven't.
That Time Bernie Sanders Interviewed Some Punk-Rock Kids in a Mall
Friday A/V Club: Back in the '80s, Bernie Sanders had a public-access TV show. The archives are now online.
Foot-Voting Nation
My new book chapter is now available for free on SSRN. It desccribes how "voting with your feet" played a central role in American history, how foot voting is at the heart of much of the nation's success, and the recent rise of dangerous new obstacles to foot-voting. Part of a new book, "Our American Story: The Search for a National Narrative."
Victims of Communism Day 2019
Why May 1 should be a day to honor the victims of the ideology that took more innocent lives than any other.
The Telegraph Was America's First Singularity
Technological leaps and political upheaval go together like spaghetti and meatballs.
What Inmates, the Amish, and Imperial Chinese Law Teach Us About Relying on the State
David Friedman’s Legal Systems Very Different from Ours explores the costs and benefits of various legal systems across time.
What If Seven Brides for Seven Brothers Had Been a Maoist Revolutionary Epic?
Friday A/V Club: Springtime for Mao
Will Today's Global Trade Wars Lead to World War III?
The splintering of international economic interdependence is a worrying sign for peace through trade.
Why Moral Progress Is Not Inevitable
Political theorist Jacob Levy reminds us that the arc of history doesn't always bend towards justice. Moral retrogression has happened before, and could well occur again.
