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Dirty Water: Federal Deregulation and the Re-Polluting of America

… about water: it rarely stays put. Wastes discharged into bodies of water tend to wind up in other bodies of water … more and more reliant on toxic substances, the shortcomings of this approach became increasingly apparent. The … an influential group that included Robert A. Taft, the future U.S. senator and GOP leader known as “Mr. …
Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea attend a working lunch in Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea on October 7, 2018.

Kim Jong-un and the “Madman Theory” of Diplomacy

… the fight. Nixon was in Seoul to convince Rhee it would be futile for South Korea to restart its war with the North. … that I may start some action is a constant check on the Communists,” Rhee told Nixon. Nixon thought so highly of …
a Galapagos sea turtle swimming in the ocean

What’s “Natural” on the Galapagos Islands?

The youngest, westernmost islands are still volcanically active and are thought to be no more than 700,000 thousand years old.
… devoid of animal or plant life. This initial isolation, combined with its location at the confluence of three … sexual arousal and copulation to rearing, socializing, and diet. For example, since tortoises’ sex is … human-directed artificial selection may now determine their future. [All photos by author and Leonardo Carrizo.] David …
The detonation of the Castle Bravo thermonuclear bomb

Top Ten Origins: Civil Defense, Nuclear War, and Duct Tape

… administration and the North Korean regime and an errant incoming missile alert in Hawaii have focused America’s … of ironic amusement, and “duck and cover” represents the futility of civil defense guidance against atomic bombs. 3. … 2001 reignited a massive effort to protect the country from future threats. On November 25, 2002, legislation …
Bust of Senator Robert La Follette in the Wisconsin State Capitol.

When Principle May Be the Best Policy

… the Democratic Party may self-destruct during the coming elections because it’s becoming softer on the war. We’ll have to wait until November … from Iraq would validate Al-Qaida strategy and invite future attacks. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s latest …
Exiles carry a poster against the communist government of Cuba, in a demonstration in Miami

Cuba in Focus–Again

… the exiles and the U.S. government joined in a powerful common cause to dump Castro, who, in the peak Cold War … Washington began badly. Outstanding among the CIA's many futile efforts to get rid of Castro was a disastrous … pro quo. Slowly, however, the view of the Cuban-American community is changing, partly because Cuban immigration has …
Cover of Pay for Play A History of Big-Time College Athletic Reform by Ronald A. Smith.

Wagging the Dog

Review of Pay For Play: A History of Big-Time College Athletic Reform, by Ronald A. Smith (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2011. xii + 344 pp.)
… of a permanent facility in which to play football.  When completed, Harvard Stadium cost over $300,000, held 40,000 … Athletic Reform .  Remind yourself periodically that competitive, commercialized, and capitalized athletic … is therefore in an ideal position to understand the basic futility of "big-time college athletic reform," at least as …
U.S. soldiers in Iraq in 2007.

Nation-Building Demands Heavy Lifting

… the Bush administration has put the lives of U.S. soldiers at risk and imperiled America’s long-term national … the seven years after World War II, not a single U.S. soldier died in combat either in Germany or in Japan — in sharp contrast to …

From Gaza to Jerusalem: Is the Two State Solution under Siege?

… demands to inspect the cargo they carried, and Israeli navy commandos boarded the vessels before the boats pulled into … and this interpretation finds support in close studies of the diplomacy of the late British Mandate period. To … or Endgame? Where does this leave the present and near future of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute? The most …
"Freedom From Want" - NARA poster 1943

The Spirit of 1947: This Thanksgiving Feed a Silent Guest and Build World Peace

… a peaceful Europe. At the time, many worried that Communism might gain power in Europe. Could a third world … they could not develop in mind or body. There could be no future for these countries under such conditions. Chaos … send a donation to pay for feeding that silent guest to a committee in Plymouth, Mass., the home of Thanksgiving. …
A foreclosure sign in front of a home

Avoiding Market Meltdowns

… reacted by pulling their money from banks and trust companies. The stock market lost nearly half its value. J.P. … Congressmen didn't want to rely on tycoons like Morgan in future emergencies, they created the Federal Reserve System … obligations. Obviously, these senators are proposing remedies to win support for their presidential campaigns. They …
Exterior view of the Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal, India,

The Bhopal Chemical Gas Disaster

… to be sacrificed on the altar of profit - we are flames, committed to conquering darkness, and we will continue the … in their homes nearby.  It is  estimated that 10,000 people died instantly. Survivor organizations estimated 23,000 … abandoned factory have seeped into the soil, water, and bodies of people living around the factory.  Multiple studies, …
Cover of Alexander the Great: A Life in Legend by Richard Stoneman.

Alexander the Great: A Life in Legend

Review of Alexander the Great: A Life in Legend, by Richard Stoneman (New Haven/London: Yale University Press, 2008)
… birth narrative takes a markedly different approach. It comes to us via Firdausi's Shahnameh (Book of Kings), … mystery, gold, and enchantment. Later ancient and medieval romantic depictions of the East would be based on … not to be his, since he is merely a mortal man, doomed to die despite all his worldly power. The book concludes with a …
The other side of The Shore, depicting the Maritime House, third from the left. The former headquarters of the National Seamen’s Union are now flats.

A Postcard from Leith, Scotland

… your right, you will encounter the upscale whiskey house, complete with nineteenth-century stone walls that feature … decision to list the building. The Banana Flats once embodied everything that Edinburgh felt was wrong with Leith. … and of hardships and Edinburgh’s vision for the future. While you walk along the Water of Leith, pull up …
portion of a movie poster for the movie Mary Queen of Scots, directed by Josie Rourke

At the Movies: Mary Queen of Scots

… to which men will go to take it away from them, and to the complicated politics of one’s immortal soul. Director Josie … religious houses, and declaring Catholicism illegal. Marie died during this revolt, leaving Mary’s illegitimate … of Mary. Elizabeth seems obsessed with her own vanity as compared to Mary but comes to learn that beauty does not …
Billboard of Nursultan Nazarbayev in Kazakhstan, 2015.

Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and the Democratization Shell Game

… both countries appear to break from the autocratic past and complicate our understanding of their political future. In 2022, Kazakh voters approved changes to their … years of the USSR.  The two leaders quickly tossed aside Communism as a governing ideology and instead embraced …
Advertisement for DDT featured in Time Magazine, June 30, 1947. This image illustrates the rosy reputation that pesticides enjoyed before the publication of Silent Spring.

A World Drenched with Pesticides: Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring

… plants, while also accumulating in water , soil, and the bodies of fish, birds, and people.  Rachel Carson devoted her … on chemical over-use. While the public, USDA, chemical companies , and farmers embraced pesticides with a fervor … Elmore, Bartow J. Seed Money: Monsanto’s Past and Our Food Future. New York: W.W. Norton, 2021.  Lear, Linda. Rachel …
Rush hour traffic in Interstate 95 in Miami.

Finally, Too Many Cars

… Chrysler was starting to remake Maxwell Motors into his future Big Three company. In 1922, there was one registered passenger car or … a car (or two) in every driveway.   From Keystone Cops comedies to contemporary movie chases to sophisticated art, …
Holding a copy of ”Selected Works of Mao Zedong," Red Guards are featured on the cover of a Guangxi elementary school textbook, 1971.

"Mao's Last Revolution": China's Cultural Transformation

… the reinstatement of political control via revolutionary committees supported by the military. The Cultural … October 1976. The resolution acknowledged the period’s tragedies and called them mistakes, laying blame at the feet of … scholars are doing the work of preservation, hoping that future generations may be able to write a people’s history …
Graffiti on wall: "Broken Promises"

Jefferson Cowie on Deindustrialization, Trade, and the 2016 Presidential Election

… the past Golden Age rather than some sort of technocratic future. It's suspicious of the elites, it is a virtue of the … Sierra Juarez, which are the three of the four sites I studied, they would open with a very simple wrote production, … Sokolsky. Song and band information can be found on our website. You can find our podcast and more at …
Cover of Health, Healing and Illness in African History by Rebekah Lee.

Africa's Medical History Revealed

Review of Health, Healing and Illness in African History, by Rebekah Lee (London: Bloomsbury Academic Press, 2021)
… of actors, including African patients themselves, families, communities, traditional healers, healthcare workers, and … the colonial era. Lee notes that certain disease outbreaks coincided with the onset of colonial rule, such as sleeping … part of the book examines a set of four disease case studies: HIV/AIDS, mental illness, tropical diseases and …
Women at the Women's March in DC with signs: "Can't Believe We STILL Have to Protest", "Keep your Hands and Laws Off my Body", "RAPE CULTURE" with a line through it

The Long History of #MeToo

… new allegations against powerful men emerge as more women come forward. But, while many are heralding the rise of the … Ohio State University's Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department, where she specializes in African American …   Kimberly Hamlin   So the first time you have a formal coining of the term, although of course, you have incidents …
Collage: On the left, a group of men emptying liquor bottles during Prohibition. On the right, a field of marijuana plants

Hooked: Drugs, Prohibition, and American Cities

… millions of individuals, and stigmatized inner city communities--all without appearing to have produced a … Scott Martin, professor of history and American cultural studies at Bowling Green State University. Dr. Martin, thank … trend, right? The idea is that white youth have a future and so we need to collectively help them.   Patrick …