Were George Washington’s Teeth Taken from Enslaved People?
We know a surprising amount about the dental history of the nation’s first president.
Bipartisan Forever Wars
A critical analysis of both political parties is necessary to understand how the US has created its informal empire—and to envision a different future.
Is It Really Carnival if You’re Not Drunk?
Carnival is known for overturning the rules of society for a short time. But strangely, many scholars don't discuss what a big role alcohol plays in it.
On the 100th Anniversary of the Negro Leagues, a Look Back at What Was Lost
A century ago, teams from eight cities formally created the Negro National League. Three decades of stellar play followed.
Dating Apps Are Intensifying Online Partisanship
Some social scientists argue that dating and mating patterns may be the real drivers of polarization.
Black Mexico and the War of Independence
The president of Mexico who finally issued the decree ending slavery was of African descent himself.
Wounded Knee and the Myth of the Vanished Indian
The story of the 1890 massacre was often about the end of Native American resistance to US expansion. But that’s not how everyone told it.
How 1920s Catholic Students Fought the Ku Klux Klan
There are few traces today of college students' resistance to anti-Catholic threats, but the ones that remain are powerful.
The Politics of Drinking in Revolutionary Russia
To leaders, the ideal Soviet worker should be sober. Actual workers had other thoughts.
Paul Krugman: Everything Is Political
An interview with the Nobel prize-winning economist on what to do about the “zombie ideas” that animate contemporary political discourse.