HNN Rundowns
Up Front
 Important State of the Union Addresses in HistoryTags: State of the Union, presidential speeches, presidents, Congress |
 HNN Book of the Month: The Story of America: Essays on Origins -- by Jill LeporeTags: Book of the Month, February, Jill Lepore, The Story of America |
Blogs
 Ed Koch, Pat Moynihan, and the Politics of Patriotic IndignationGil Troy Sometimes anger is the rational response to challenges -- and can certainly pay off politically. Tags: 1970s, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Ed Koch, New York |
 The Imaginary World of the “War Against al-Qaeda”Ira Chernus Perhaps most Americans have forgotten that another story is possible. Tags: al-Qaeda, drone strikes, extrajudicial killings, Osama bin Laden |
 How Do This Year's Oscar Nominees Rate on the Bechdel Test?Steve Hochstadt Seven for nine among Best Picture nominees, but that's being generous. Tags: Bechdel test, feminism, movies, Oscars |
 Fighting Old Wars (And Contemplating New Ones) ... Josh Brown's Life During Wartime John McCain and Chuck Hagel. Tags: Chuck Hagel, John McCain, Senate hearings, Secretary of Defense |
News at Home
 What's Still Missing From the Gun Control DebateJim Sleeper We're not talking about how we're sold violence. Tags: civics, Civil Rights Act, gun control, guns |
 Forget the Contrarians: Ed Koch Was A True LiberalRobert W. Snyder With a capital L, especially with his record on affordable housing. Tags: Ed Koch, liberalism, New York City, obituaries |
 The Income Tax Amendment Turns One Hundred and It’s Worth CelebratingRay Raphael Forget Grover Norquist -- the Sixteenth Amendment closed a massive loophole in American tax law. Tags: Constitution, income taxes, Sixteenth Amendment, taxes |
 Actually, Scalia's Legal Logic Permits Gun ControlAlan Singer Using Antonin Scalia's textualist legal school against him. Tags: Antonin Scalia, Constitution, gun control, textualism |
 Could We Actually Learn Something from '50s-Style Civics Education?Erik Christiansen Reinterpreting Cold War-era civic education. Tags: civic engagement, civics, education, Cold War, Freedom Train |
 Channelling George Washington: The Worthless ContinentalThomas Fleming A warning for our current Congress on why not to print your way out of debt. Tags: Channelling George, economics, inflation, paper money |
 The Politics of Debt in AmericaSteve Fraser From debtor's prison to debtor nation. Tags: debt, economic history, personal debt, TomDispatch |
News Abroad
 The American Lockdown StateTom Engelhardt Post-legal drones, the bin Laden tax, and other wonders of our American world. Tags: Barack Obama, drones, United States of Fear, war on terror |
 Women in Combat: Not New, but a Milestone NonethelessTanya L. Roth The next step is to rethink the hypermasculine culture of the military. Tags: combat, military history, U.S. Army, women's history |
 Is the Obama Administration Abandoning Its Commitment to a Nuclear-Free World?Lawrence S. Wittner Nuclear disarmament has been punted from "years" to "centuries." Tags: Barack Obama, nuclear disarmament, nuclear policy, nuclear weapons |
 Anti-Zionism is Anti-SemitismAndrew Seth Meyers Brooklyn College is hosting a B.D.S. event this week -- this is their fundamental mistake. Tags: anti-Zionism, BDS, Brooklyn College, Israeli/Palestinian conflict |
 The Hagel HearingsNick Turse The last best chance for the truth about a lost war and America’s war-making future. Tags: Chuck Hagel, Vietnam, war crimes, atrocities |
Historians & History
 The Caribbean Origins of American SlaveryAndrea Stuart The "white" and "black" races were invented on Barbados. Tags: Barbados, Caribbean, colonialism, slavery |
 The World's Train Station: Grand CentralKris Wood An interview with New York Times reporter Sam Roberts on the history of the seminal terminal. Tags: Grand Central Station, Manhattan, New York City, Sam Roberts |
 The Paris "Peace" Accords Were a Deadly DeceptionKen Hughes Richard Nixon let thousands of Americans die to further his political career. Tags: Henry Kissinger, Richard Nixon, Vietnam, Vietnam War |
 NASA's History of Organizational ProblemsRobert Huddleston On the tenth anniversary of the Columbia disaster, a look back at great NASA blunders from the 1960s. Tags: administration, business, NASA, organizations |
Culture Watch
 Why the Volkswagen Super Bowl Ad Isn't RacistPearl Duncan Can we just celebrate a different culture already? Tags: racism, stereotypes, Super Bowl, Volkswagen |
Books
 Review of Aida D. Donald’s Citizen Soldier: A Life of Harry S. TrumanMurray Polner Was he a near-great president or in over his head? Tags: biographies, book reviews, Harry S. Truman, Aida Donald |
 Review of David Shambaugh's China Goes Global: The Partial PowerJim Cullen Could China in 2013 be in the same global position as America in 1913? Tags: book reviews, China, David Shambaugh, geopolitics |
HNN Poll: The Ten Most Important Documents in American History
RESULTS:
What were the criteria? Any textual document -- book, article, speech, law, essay, or even blog, but excluding the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Bill of Rights (they're in default) critical to the development of American government, society, or culture, by any author, from any time period right down to the present day, was eligible for nomination! These were the top ten nominees. For more information on the poll, click here.
Up Front
 Kerry Admits It: “Foreign Policy is Economic Policy.”Ira Chernus's MythicAmerica Speaking one of the hidden myths of the State Department. Tags: economics, economic history, foreign policy, John Kerry |
News at Home
 In Defense of Transactional PresidentsJoseph S. Nye, Jr. Transformational presidents get all the attention, but it's actually transactional presidents who tend to be more competent. Tags: George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, leadership, presidency |
 Whatever Happened to George W. Bush?Burton Kaufman Dubya's post-presidency is shaping up to be a lot like his father's. Tags: George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush, presidents, post-presidency |
News Abroad
 Obama’s Inaugural and the Danger of an Iran WarJuan Cole At the brink of peace for the first time in ten years, we face the prospect of a new war. Tags: Barack Obama, inaugural address, inauguration, Iran |
 Actually, Women Have Served in Combat BeforeBradley Craig From the American Revolution to the Eastern Front of World War II, women have been on the front lines for centuries. Tags: American Revolution, military history, women's history, World War II |
 Why the State Department is Breathing a Sigh of Relief over the Algerian HostagesLawrence A. Peskin America didn't pay much attention to the crisis, but had it gone on the pressure would've built up. Tags: Algerian hostage crisis, Barbary pirates, History News Service, Thomas Jefferson |
 Obama's Anti-ZionismDaniel Pipes His re-election gives him the room to express his anti-Israel bias. Tags: Barack Obama, Israel, anti-Zionism, Israeli/Palestinian conflict |
 BFFs: America's Inauguration and Israel's Election Celebrated DemocracyGil Troy "It is past time we ceased to apologize for an imperfect democracy. Find its equal." Tags: Israel, United States, Canada, democracy |
Historians & History
 Crafting the Rules for HellRobin Lindley Interview with John Fabian Witt on the laws of war in American history. Tags: Civil War, Francis Lieber, John Fabian Witt, laws of war |
 The Hidden Link Between Illegal Immigrants and Fugitive Slaves Stanley Harrold Thanks to fugitive slave laws, runaways were the illegal immigrants of their day. Tags: fugitive slave laws, illegal immigrants, runaway slaves, slavery |
Education
 Beware the Corporatization of American UniversitiesSteve Hochstadt Athletics are already ruled by the almighty dollar; academics are next. Tags: colleges, education reform, higher education, universities |
Culture Watch
 Zero Dark Dirty: The "Good War" LivesIra Chernus's MythicAmerica WWII-style moviemaking meets the morally ambiguous war on terror. Tag: Hollywood, Osama bin Laden, war on terror, Zero Dark Thirty |
 Django Unchained's White Abolitionist VisionStephen Kantrowitz By depicting most slaves as helpless, Tarantino portrays slavery through an antebellum lens. Tags: abolitionism, Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino, slavery |
 Jam OnBruce Chadwick The thrills and spills of roller derby are back in The Jammer. Tags: New York City, Off-Broadway, theater, theater review |
 A Gay Man, a Housewife, and MussoliniBruce Chadwick All is not well in 1938 Fascist Italy in Working on a Special Day. Tags: New York City, Off-Broadway, theater, theater review |
Books
 Review of Paul and Karen Avrich’s Sasha and Emma |
Up Front
 Five Myths about Roe v. WadeMarc Stein Roe wasn't a feminist decision. Tags: abortion, feminism, legal history, Supreme Court |
 Missouri GOP Rep.: Japan Didn't Invade U.S. in World War II Because of Armed PopulaceJonathan Dresner Michelle Bachmann Award for Distinguished Lack of Historical Knowledge Tags: Jonathan Dresner, gun control, guns, Japan, World War II |
Inauguration Day
 Obama's Second Inaugural Loaded with HistoryIan Reifowitz The speech showcased Obama's keen sense of history. Tags: Barack Obama, inaugural address, inauguration, presidents |
 Inauguration Shows President as Prime Minister and KingIra Chernus's MythicAmerica Examining the ritual behind Obama's second inaugural. Tags: inauguration, presidents, theater state, Barack Obama |
 The History of Inauguration DayBradley Craig There have been 44 presidents and 66 inaugurations. Here's the highlights. Tags: inauguration, Thomas Jefferson, presidents, George Washington |
_0.jpg) A Brief History of Presidential Inaugurations |
 Understanding the Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. |
 HNN Hot Topics: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day |
Blogs
 Should We Worry About the National Debt?Steve Hochstadt It's a concern, but hardly the apocalyptic trigger that some claim. Tags: debt, debt ceiling, deficits, housing collapse |
 Mitch Daniels: Friend or Foe to Academic Freedom?Jim Loewen The former Indiana governor played politics with historical research to placate Honda. Tags: Mitch Daniels, Jim Loewen, Indiana, Honda, sundown towns |
News at Home
 Reclaiming Compassionate Conservatism |
 Secularization of America: Is the Latest Pew Poll a Big Deal? |
 Will Presidential Term Limits Ever Be Abolished?Michael J. Korzi The case for and against ending term limits Tags: Barack Obama, FDR, presidents, term limits |
Historians & History
 In Memoriam: Gerda Lerner |
 We All Politicize History |
 Demystifying the American Story with Jill Lepore |
 How Did the Gates of Hell Open in Vietnam? |
Culture Watch
 Phantom of the Opera Showcases Rich Parisian History |
Books
 Review of Andrew Piper's Book Was There: Reading in Electronic Times |
 Review of Robert O. Self's All in the Family |
Up Front
HNN Hot Topics: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day |
| The History of Inauguration Day Bradley Craig There have been 44 presidents and 66 inaugurations. Here's the highlights. Tags: inauguration, Thomas Jefferson, presidents, George Washington |
A Brief History of Presidential Inaugurations |
HNN Teacher's Edition: For Grade School
HNN’s Teacher’s Edition is designed to help busy teachers build classes around topics in the news. With just a few minutes preparation, teachers will be able to teach a class on current events, even if they haven't been in a position to follow the news closely.
Tags: Teacher's Edition, inauguration, presidents, presidency |
Tags: Teacher's Edition, deficits, debt, economic history |
Q & A
 When Was the Debt Ceiling Created? |
Blogs
 Crazy Right-Wing Conspiracy Theories Gone Mainstream |
 “Ike” and the “Red Menace”: Some Myths Won’t Die |
News at Home
 The Real Origin of America's Gun Culture |
 Why Ports Are the New Factories |
 Does Slavery Still Exist Today? |
Channelling George Washington: Junking the Constitution |
 We're All [Ancient] Greeks Now When It Comes to Debt |
News Abroad
 The Pentagon as a Global NRA |
 Using Cold War Tactics to Confront Iran |
Historians & History
 Joyce Appleby Backing Petition to Disarm the Filibuster |
 Eight Things I Miss About the Cold War |
How Did the Gates of Hell Open in Vietnam? |
 Antietam's Bloody Intersection of War and Politics |
 Historians on Reddit? |
Education
 How to Revitalize Public Education |
Culture Watch
 Baseball's Hall of Fame Hypocrisy |
 Chivalry Isn't Dead |
 Aux armes, citoyens! |
 The Agony of the Soldier Returned from the Wars |
 The Tragedy of Involuntary Commitment |
Books
 Review of Martin Duberman’s Howard Zinn: A Life on the Left |
 Review of Kevin Phillips's 1775: A Good Year for Revolution |
