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Why a Long-Maligned Housing Style Endures in Leeds

Once a progressive improvement on court-style housing in working class neighborhoods, then disfavored as cramped and lacking in privacy, urbanists look to Leeds's back-to-back rowhouses as a guide to more efficient and affordable housing for modern cities. 

Statehouse Assaults on Tenure and Diversity are Impacting Hiring at State Universities

"In Florida, some candidates’ concerns are so profound that they’re turning down job offers in the state — despite not having other offers, said Andrew Gothard, president of the United Faculty of Florida, a union representing faculty at all 12 of the state’s public universities, a private one, and community colleges."

Controversy Dogs Another Florida Campus Presidential Search

by Francie Diep

The elevation of Henry Mack III, a senior leader at the state education department, to the final tier of candidates for the presidency of Florida Gulf Coast University has raised questions whether academic experience or political considerations are the driving factor. 

How Maus Changed the Place of Comics in Culture

Two new books trace the path of Art Spiegelman's masterpiece from an underground serialized story to an educational text, a process which has unfortunately tended to shape the work to the needs of a society that is obliged to teach about the Holocaust but uncomfortable learning about it. 

William Casey (Almost) Certainly Delayed the Release of Iran Hostages to Help Reagan

by Jonathan Alter, Gary Sick, Kai Bird and Stuart Eizenstat

It has long been suspected that Reagan's campaign chief William Casey convinced Iran that they could get a better deal by releasing American hostages after the election of Ronald Reagan. Available documents, recent interviews, and the vast circumstantial evidence present a damning case, argues a team of policy vets and journalistic experts on the Carter years. 

LOC Opens Personal Papers of Justice John Paul Stevens to Public

The justice's personal papers show, among other things, that Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy were upset that the harshness of dissenting opinion in Bush v. Gore would lead to public criticism of the conservative justices who helped George W. Bush to the White House. 

Missouri Group's Claim to Standing in SCOTUS Debt Relief Case Based on False Claim of Harm

In Biden v. Nebraska, the court used the "shadow docket" to accept a case for review without verifying the facts presented in the complaint. As it turns out, the claim by a Missouri-based student loan servicing agency that it would be harmed by debt relief appears to be flatly untrue. 

Academic Freedom Battleground Shifts from Classroom to Institutions

by Jeffrey Sachs, Jeremy C. Young and Jonathan Friedman

Conservative leaders like Adam Kissel are advising lawmakers to defeat First Amendment protections for what professors say in the classroom by shifting legislation's focus to defining concepts as outside the bounds of academic disciplines and academic fields as outside the bounds of the university's mission. 

As a Massachusetts Museum Exhibits Parts of "Hanoi Hilton," Survivors Reflect

Salvaged remnants of the POW camp have been reconstructed by the American Heritage Museum in Massachusetts. 

Inside the New New College

by Michelle Goldberg

Hopes that the incoming regime at the New College of Florida would tread lightly on the school's unique culture were dashed by administrative moves to recruit student athletes, establish fraternities and sororities, and deny tenure to the faculty members who sought it this year. 

Faith Leaders and Scholars on "Letter from Birmingham Jail" 60 Years Later

A recent conference of faith leaders emphasized that King's demand to pursue positive justice applies to many situations today, including the necessity of teaching about the nation's history of racial oppression and struggles for equality. 

Emmett Till Family Responds to Death of Carolyn Bryant Donham

The Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr., a cousin of the slain youth, expressed regret that no one would be held accountable for the killing, but reminded that there remains a collective accountability for overcoming racial injustice. 

From Mayor to Homeless: Craig Coyner's Life Tracked the Changes in Bend, Oregon and the West

Deindustrialization, addiction and high housing costs, plus frayed social services and mental health care, have fed a housing crisis on the west coast. One town's mayor experienced this firsthand. 

Documents Confirm Direct Ancestors of King Charles III Involved in Slave Trade

Researcher Desirée Baptiste discovered documents of the sale of 200 Africans in Virginia to the family of the late Queen Mother. 

Vince McMahon's Control of Pro Wrestling's History Key to Controlling its Present

by Abraham Josephine Reisman

As politicians seek to control the teaching of history, Vince McMahon's reign at the top of pro wrestling offers a cautionary tale for a nation that can't face its past. 

Why a Book About Two Bunnies Marrying Was Banned in 1959

Illustrator and author Garth Williams feigned incredulity that his tale of a white and black rabbit's romance ran afoul of Jim Crow sensibilities, but it's hard to see how else it was likely to be perceived, says Sharon Patricia Holland of the University of North Carolina. 

My Paper Sued Florida for the Same First Amendment Violations DeSantis is Making. We Won.

by Edward Wasserman

A flamboyant Florida sheriff took action against a small newspaper in 1988 by moving its mandatory legal notices to another paper. Given that the current governor has in his own book declared his intention to punish the Disney company for its "woke," precedent suggests he's in trouble. 

The Comics Writer Who Became a Legend-and a Martyr of Argentina's Dirty War

Héctor Germán Oesterheld died in an Argentine prison as an enemy of the country's dictatorship after a long career of depicting the political aspirations of Argentine leftists like himself. In death, his admirers made him a comic hero. 

Emily Meggett, Preserver of Gullah Geechee Foodways of the Coastal South, Dies at 90

Mrs. Meggett cooked for decades for her family and church, and as a domestic worker for white families in South Carolina. Her book represents the work of many women who preserved food traditions passed from Africa through slavery and Jim Crow. 

Academic Freedom is Vital to Developing the Critical Abilities Society Needs

by Jamie Merisotis

The push to restrict teaching "divisive concepts" in college classrooms is an authoritarian intrusion on the principles of academic freedom that have benefited America's students, economy, and democracy.