Excerpts

Curated stories from around the web.
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What Does Trump's Golfing Reveal about His Personality?

Donald Trump has been playing a lot of golf since becoming president. Can his habit be explained by his "sky-high extroversion?"
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Pregnant Pioneers

For the frontier women of the 19th century, the experience of childbirth was harrowing, and even just expressing fear was considered a privilege.

Why Do Sports Teams Visit the White House?

The president’s patriotic pageant renews a question dating back to the first White House visit by a champion sports team.
Magazine ad for Kraft macaroni and cheese dinner.

A Brief History of America’s Appetite for Macaroni and Cheese

Popularized by Thomas Jefferson, this versatile dish fulfills our nation’s quest for the ‘cheapest protein possible.’

Ira Berlin, Transformative Historian of Slavery in America, Dies at 77

He “put the history of slavery at the center of our understanding of American history.”
David Mullins and Charlie Craig in front of the Supreme Court.
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We're Looking at the Masterpiece Cakeshop Case All Wrong. And So Did The Supreme Court.

Why the Masterpiece Cakeshop decision was a major loss for gay rights.

Objection

Clarence Darrow’s unfinished work.

Asking the Tough Questions With an 18th-Century Debate Society

Is polygamy justifiable? Is it lawful to eat swine's flesh?

The Georgia Peach May Be Vanishing, but Its Mythology Is Alive and Well

It's been a tough year for the Georgia peach.

Policing the Community

Today, many politicians claim a community approach means soft on crime. Birmingham's Johnnie Johnson Jr. disagrees.
Border patrol guarding a group of men sitting on the ground.

The Long History of Deportation Scare Tactics at the U.S.-Mexico Border

The precedents for Trump’s hyped-up immigration crackdown.

I Retraced the Gold Rush Trail to Find the American Dream

A disenchanted San Franciscan rides west with a motley crew of pioneers.
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How a Stroke of the Pen Changed the Army Forever

The most important civil rights achievement didn't come from Congress or the Court. It came from Harry Truman.

Bring the Noize

A search for the source of Southern hip-hop’s magic will always lead you to three men from Atlanta, known to the world as Organized Noize.

Trump Hasn’t Killed Comedy. He’s Killed Our Stupid Idea of Comedy.

You and I have grown up during a period in which comedy became strangely bound up with truth and virtue. Trump has cut the knot.

A New View of Grenada’s Revolution

The documentary, "The House on Coco Road" tells the little-known story of Grenada's revolution and subsequent U.S. invasion.

Brian Tochterman on the 'Summer of Hell'

What E.B. White, Mickey Spillane, Death Wish, hip-hop, and the “Summer of Hell” have in common.

The South Rises Yet Again, This Time on HBO

In a world where Confederate flags continue to fly, it is hard not to cry “enough” at this continued emphasis on all-things-Confederate.
Cover of "First Martyr of Liberty," featuring a painting of Crispus Attucks facing a British soldier with a bayonet.

Crispus Attucks, American Revolutionary Hero

With so little documentary evidence about his life, he is a virtual blank slate upon which different people at different times have inscribed a variety of meanings.

William Ferris: The Man Who Shared Our Voices

An interview with the legendary folklorist, who fundamentally changed America’s understanding of the South.

How the Nazi Regime's Pink Triangle Symbol Was Repurposed for LGBTQ Pride

The symbol was born from a dark time in history.

In 1968, Three Students Were Killed by Police. Today, Few Remember the Orangeburg Massacre

The shootings occurred two years before the deaths at Kent State University, but remain a little-known incident in the Civil Rights Movement.

The Enlightenment’s Dark Side

How the Enlightenment created modern race thinking, and why we should confront it.
John Adams

How John Quincy Adams Made Lincoln Possible

Adams, whose 250th birthday is today, did not end slavery but his battle against the House "Gag Rule" helped pave the way.

Elizabeth Bisland’s Race Around the World

The American journalist propelled into the limelight when she went head-to-head with Nellie Bly on a race around the world.

Samuel Huntington, a Prophet for the Trump Era

The writings of the late Harvard political scientist anticipate America's political and intellectual battles -- and point to the country we may become.

Geronimo: The Warrior

Edward Rielly tells of the tragic massacre which underpinned the life of resistance fighter Geronimo.
Massachusetts State House
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Don’t Count on the Supreme Court to Stop Trump’s Travel Ban

Chinese exclusion in the 19th century exposes the limits of the justices' power.
Barry Goldwater with his finger to his lips sushing the audience.

Why the 'Goldwater Rule' Keeps Psychiatrists From Diagnosing at a Distance

Here's what to know about the man behind the longstanding rule.
Mitch McConnell
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Partisanship is an American Tradition — And Good for Democracy

Bipartisanship is the exception, not the rule.

From Public Good to Personal Pursuit: Historical Roots of the Student Debt Crisis

The roots of the student debt crisis are neither economic nor financial in origin, but rather social.

The Unfulfilled Promise of the Fair Housing Act

Fifty years after President Johnson signed it into law, the bill has failed to create an integrated society.

Black Subjectivity and the Origins of American Gynecology

A review of Deirdre Cooper Owens' "Medical Bondage: Race, Gender, and the Origins of American Gynecology."
Sojourner Truth

Compare the Two Versions of Sojourner Truth's “Ain’t I a Woman” Speech

Why is there more than one version of the famous 1851 speech?

An Independence Day Alternative

How "enlightened" leaders of the early US ignored an Independence Day speech and set in motion indigenous peoples' brutalization.

America's 100 Other Declarations of Independence

The document we celebrate today wasn't just the work of Thomas Jefferson's individual genius. Everyone was doing it.

U.S. Population Is Growing, But the House of Representatives Is Same Size as in Taft Era

How representative is the U.S. House of Representatives?

Why No One Answers Their Phone Anymore

Homeowners used to rush to pick up the phone. What happened?

What if the Fourth of July Were Dry?

In 1855, prohibitionists set their sights on the wettest day of the year.

RFK, in Arthur Schlesinger’s Words

On the 50th anniversary of RFK's death, a glimpse inside one of his closest relationships.
Title screen of the film "1983: The Brink of Apocalypse."

Standing on the Brink: The Secret War Scare of 1983

Remembering a time when a toxic cocktail of threats, fear, and misunderstanding nearly led us down the path to Armageddon.

The Bobby Kennedy Myth

Many on the left have learned the wrong lessons from his ill-fated presidential bid.

The Last Words of Robert F. Kennedy

Until his last breath, RFK insisted that Americans confront their country’s shortcomings—and live up to its potential.

Bellatrix and the American Revolution

240 years after the American Revolution, debates over how to interpret the conflict and its leaders continue.

Robert F. Kennedy Is Remembered as a Liberal Icon. Here's the Truth About His Politics

For many American liberals, RFK became a symbol of not just a better past, but also a better future that might have been.

The Craft Beer Explosion: Why Here? Why Now?

The crucial decade was the 1970s, when the industry’s increased consolidation and ever-blander product collided with key social and economic changes.

Welcome to the Second Redemption

The accomplishments of the first black president will be erased by a man who rose to power on slandering him.
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Ida B. Wells Offered The Solution To Police Violence More Than 100 Years Ago

The answer runs through the history of anti-lynching laws.

John L. Sullivan Fights America

In 1883, heavy-weight boxing champion John L. Sullivan embarked on a tour of the country that would make him a sports superstar.

How Woodrow Wilson’s Propaganda Machine Changed American Journalism

The government's suppression of press freedom was a major component of its attempts to build support for the war effort
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