About Origins

"For insight into the complicated and complicating events ... , one needs perspective, not attitudes; context, not anecdotes; analyses, not postures. For any kind of lasting illumination the focus must be on the history routinely ignored or played down or unknown."   — Toni Morrison

Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective connects history with today.

Every month since 2007, we’ve provided historical insight on current events that matter to the United States and to the world. The history departments of Ohio State University and Miami University in Oxford produce a main article that appears on the 15th of each month and features an expert who analyzes a pressing issue—whether political, cultural, or social—in a broader, deeper context. Origins’ main articles focus on the long-term trends and patterns, search for the foundations of today’s events, and explore the often complicated nature of a particular current event.

Our readers are from every continent and almost every country on the planet. And Origins keeps growing.

Our monthly Milestones essays feature brief new histories on anniversaries of past events, large and small.

We also offer book review essays that cover the best of today’s history reading.

Connecting History catches the newest blogs and coolest links to historical stuff across the web, featuring film reviews, postcards from across the globe, and "Top Ten" lists.

And our podcast History Talk features interviews and segments about today’s most interesting topics— it’s a history podcast for everyone. Our serial podcast, Prologued, features amazing stories and remarkable guests, Prologued offers in-depth discussions of the historical roots of the world today—a past that has often been lost, ignored, or misconstrued. Each season we reconstruct the history of a major issue that confronts society now: to explain how we got here and to reveal a path forward. Join us for insight and entertainment about the past, present, and future.

We hope that Origins will help you understand the world more fully. To provide the best and most interesting content, we have and continue to partner with other like-minded organizations.

The final goal of Origins is to make us all more informed, engaged citizens. As the American philosopher John Dewey wrote, “History which is not brought down close to the actual scene of events leaves a gap.”

We’re also proud that Origins is a project of the Public History Initiative and eHistory in the History Department at The Ohio State University in collaboration with the History Department at Miami University.

Contact Origins

The Ohio State University
100 Dulles Hall
230 Annie and John Glenn Avenue
Columbus, OH 43210
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Republication Requests

Authors retain ownership of the copyright for their content. No republication is permitted without expressed permission from Origins. For reprint requests, please contact us.

Current Origins Staff

Editors: Nicholas Breyfogle, Steven Conn and Andrew Offenburger
Managing Editors: Sydney Heifler, Hannah Keller, and Paul McAllister  
Copyeditor: Sarah Brady Siff
Article Layout: Kristin Osborne
Video Production Specialist & Technical Editor: Laura Seeger

Past Origins Staff

Web Manager and Technical Advisor: Mitch Shelton
Executive Producer: David Staley
Past Managing Editors:

Past Associate Editors:

Past History Talk Producers and Hosts:  Jessica Viñas-Nelson, Brenna Miller, Leticia R. Wiggins and Patrick R. Potyondy

Music Credits for History Talk

Song: "Star-Crossed"
Band: The End of the Ocean
https://theendoftheocean.bandcamp.com/

Song: “I dunno” by grapes
2008 - Licensed under
Creative Commons
Attribution (3.0)

Song: "slumlord" by lo tag blanco
2006 - licensed under
Creative Commons
Attribution (3.0)