Happy 200th Birthday, Gregor Mendel
Remembering the world’s first geneticist, and a tax protester to boot
History
Great Moments in Unintended Consequences: Rent Control, Arizona Alt Fuel, Ballot Access (Vol. 8)
Good intentions, bad results.
A New History of the Old Right
On the American right, populism has always been lurking in the shadows.
The Quest for a Libertarian Island Paradise
Raymond B. Craib's new book recounts how Michael Oliver repeatedly tried to create a new country with a government funded entirely by voluntary contributions.
In The Listeners, Brian Hochman Details History of Eavesdropping
Wiretapping and eavesdropping used to be the norm. Perhaps privacy was always an illusion after all.
Juneteenth Is a Celebration for Everyone
Plus: Fentanyl copaganda, the perils of antitrust populism, a January 6 meme is born, and more...
Is Twitter-Famous Princeton Historian Kevin Kruse a Plagiarist?
His 2000 thesis on civil-rights-era Atlanta lifts passages from other people's work.
Political Violence Escalates in a Fracturing U.S.
Tensions won’t simmer down until Americans stop fearing power in the hands of enemies.
Medieval Geopolitics Help Explain Modern Russia and Ukraine
The events of 2022 can be seen as another chapter in a very long story: Ukraine looking westward and seeking freedom while Russia slides deeper into autocracy.
Today Marks 80 Years Since Congress Last Bothered To Declare a War
Presidents once treated congressional authorization as a requirement for the U.S. to enter conflicts. What went wrong?
Review: My History Can Beat Up Your Politics
The political podcast uses relevant history to contextualize controversial current events.
Book Review: The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity
Early cities' concentrated populations and burgeoning scale didn't spontaneously summon pharaonic god-kings or bureaucrats.
Tucker Carlson's Great Replacement Theory Is Spectacularly Wrong
Republicans have thrived since Ronald Reagan granted amnesty to 2.7 million mostly Mexican illegal immigrants in 1986.
Zora Neale Hurston's Inconvenient Individualism
The author of Their Eyes Were Watching God defies easy political categorization.
What the Leaked Abortion Opinion Gets Wrong About the Founding Era
Understanding state regulatory powers at the time of the founding.
When Ted Kennedy Was Pro-Life and Ronald Reagan Was Expanding Abortion Access
The forgotten abortion politics of the pre-Roe era
![book1 | Photo: Uncle Sam rounding up men labeled “Spy,” “Traitor,” “IWW,” “Germ[an] money,” and “Sinn Fein,” with the United States Capitol in the background](https://d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net/img/c331x186-w331-q60/uploads/2022/03/book1-331x186.jpg)
Speaking Freely Through the Ages
As long as there have been laws, there have been attempts to silence people.
The Northman Is a Bloody, Brutal, Brilliant Viking Revenge Epic
No moral judgment, just Viking honor, pagan ritual, and inevitable death.
Don't Expect Unions To Make a Comeback
Despite the recent win against Amazon and Joe Biden's full backing, Big Labor is fading because workers are making progress without unions.
Carl Hart: Legalize All Drugs Now!
The controversial Columbia neuroscientist, Air Force vet, and author of Drug Use for Grown-Ups believes deeply in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Dr. Carl Hart: 'I Am Better for My Drug Use'
The maverick Columbia neuroscientist explains why America should embrace drug legalization for all.
In Defense of Online Anonymity
Jeff Kosseff's The United States of Anonymous makes a strong case for letting people hide behind the First Amendment.
Jeff Kosseff: Why Anonymous Speech Is Good—and Constitutional
The author of the definitive history of Section 230 is back with a controversial new book, The United States of Anonymous.
The 1619 Project Unrepentantly Pushes Junk History
Nikole Hannah-Jones' new book sidesteps scholarly critics while quietly deleting previous factual errors.
Are We Always on the Verge of Civil War?
All that Civil War II talk is overblown—but that isn't the only sort of political violence to worry about.
Steam Engines Are Perpetuating Racism, Apparently
The National Museum of Wales is suggesting that 19th-century innovations that enabled economic development are somehow tainted by slavery.
Why Hate Speech Laws Backfire
A new history of free speech argues the best way to defeat hate speech is by openly confronting it in the public square.
It's the End of the Neoliberal Era, and We Still Don't Know What Neoliberalism Is
Politics is filled with words that mean different things in different mouths, but "neoliberalism" is an especially tangled case.
P.J. O'Rourke, R.I.P.
"At the core of libertarianism is the idea that people are assets."
Chris Stewart Wants February To Be 'Uncomfortable History Month'
Nearly 90 gag-order bills would ban schools from teaching the grisly particulars of American history. This activist is fighting against the censorship and for school choice.
Expanding Our Understanding of the Revolution
Despite all the controversy it has courted, Woody Holton's newest book doesn't stray very far from other scholarly interpretations of the American Revolution.
Biden's False Gun Claims Are a Lousy Basis for Law
Already abused for political purposes, the power of government shouldn’t be expanded based on lies.
When Humanitarianism Prolongs the Inhumane
"A future of bloodless global discipline is a chilling thing."
The History and Politics of Public Radio
James T. Bennett's libertarian critique argues that noncommercial radio can be detached from the state—and that it's better that way.
Deng Xiaoping and the Communist Party Don't Deserve Credit for Chinese Economic Power
China's economic reforms were bottom-up, not top-down.
George Will Loves To Argue About America
The octogenarian columnist has a lot to say about happiness and history in the United States.
Foucault in the Panopticon
How Michel Foucault's encounters in Poland's heavily policed gay community informed his ideas
Rachel Laudan: Why Thanksgiving Dinner Is Served All at Once
The Cuisine and Empire author dishes on the anti-French origins of Turkey Day, why she hates "organic" food, and the genius of Julia Child.
John McWhorter: 'Woke Racism' Has Betrayed Black America
Forget Robin DiAngelo, Ibram X. Kendi, and The 1619 Project. Start with ending the drug war, says the Columbia University linguist.
No, the United States Has Not Always Paid Its Debts
There are five instances of the Treasury defaulting on the debt.
John McWhorter: How To Defeat 'Woke Racism'
The New York Times columnist and Columbia University linguist on the "new religion" he says has "betrayed Black America."
Red Markets
Sometimes communist countries had to tolerate a little economic liberty just to survive.
The Uses and Disadvantages of Soviet History for Life
It is hard to comprehend the scarcity and existential dread that was humanity's constant companion during the Cold War.
The Kinks vs. the People in Grey
Happy 50th birthday to Muswell Hillbillies, a concept album about nostalgia, conformity, and the evils of urban renewal programs.
Boston Officials Want to Know if You Think This Dilapidated Shack Is Historically Significant
The city's solicitation of public input on the demolition of shacks, sheds, and boarded up homes is an invitation for NIMBYism.
40 Years of Trillion-Dollar Debt
Forty years from now, it'll be much, much, much higher.
Steven Pinker: Rationality Has Made Us Richer, Kinder, and More Free
The Harvard linguist says Enlightenment reasoning and critical thinking are behind massive increases in material and moral progress.
