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An abandoned building in Chernobyl

A Postcard from Chernobyl

… nuclear power station in Ukraine , then a republic of the Soviet Union, conducted tests that went wrong. Trying to … a radioactive cloud spread over much of Europe. Aerial view of the destroyed reactor, 1986 ( left ), and … environmental organizations for the higher. Credits Our visit to the Chernobyl exclusion zone was funded …
Official Portrait of President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan

“The Reagans”: The Spirit of Censorship Lives

… Relatively few Americans will see the CBS Television mini-series, “The Reagans,” when it’s released in the … of protests from Republicans and conservative groups evidently convinced CBS executives that the controversial … skills and commitment to his beliefs and gives him credit for ending the Cold War. On the other hand, it …
Plate of enchiladas at a Mexican restaurant.

Mexican Food in the United States

… a modern split has emerged in Mexican cuisine. It is visible in how eateries such as Chipotle utilize Mexican ingredients but American service, while Mexican migrants claim their own space and … his New Braunfels, Texas restaurant in 1894. He is widely credited as the inventor of this product. He soon thereafter …
Photo of Tiananmen Square from 2007.

Bombings, Blood Debts, and Mutual Suspicion

… the policies and proclamations of Western powers have provided the Chinese state-run media with an abundance of … capitalism. Events of the latter half of 1989 made this view look positively prophetic. One after another, most of … of leaders in the self-styled “Free World” to claim credit for the “victory” of course lent credence to the …
The Second Bank of the United States.

Enron’s Collapse Follows a Familiar Pattern

… recently, during the early 1980s Congress deregulated the savings and loan industry after S & L operators cozied up to … the company’s cash flow. Enron’s chiefs were following previous formulas for disaster to the letter. After Jackson’s … by establishing hundreds of dummy corporations.  Enron took credit for the dummies’ profits, but not their losses. …
a man standing on a large bomb

Fifty Years Later, We Still Need to Learn to Love the Bomb

… this purely to the film’s wit. Make no mistake, the movie is funny. One famous scene, widely quoted, starts with … and undefined war against an implacable foe. The movie tells the story of an accidental nuclear apocalypse, … most absurd foundations. The entire movie, from the opening credits that depict two airplanes having sex, to the …
William Howard Taft, 27th President of the United States.

Zealous Moderates: Barack Obama and William Howard Taft

… retirement at Yale Law School, returning to public service in 1921 as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, a … Sound familiar?   With his first big initiative–revising the tariff–Taft deferred its drafting to the leaders … gets blamed by partisans on both sides, but he gets little credit among the middle-of-the-road constituencies—the …
Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy meeting with Kagan.

What’s Wrong With Kagan’s Confirmation Hearings

… that the president “shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint . . . Judges … The Founding Fathers did not think this wise.   In his Virginia Plan, the basis for debates at the Constitutional … everyday life since the early 1900s — from social issues to credit card regulation — presidents have increasingly …
Strangers Nowhere in the World: The Rise of Cosmopolitanism in Early Modern Europe , by Margaret Jacobs book cover.

Strangers Nowhere in the World: The Rise of Cosmopolitanism in Early Modern Europe

Review of Strangers Nowhere in the World: The Rise of Cosmopolitanism in Early Modern Europe , by Margaret Jacobs (Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006)
… science, Jacob offers a series of case studies looking at Avignon, Alchemy, early stock markets, Masonic lodges, and … issues facing society in the post-9/11 world, indicating a virtue of open-mindedness that she urges her readers to … of the changing world. The development of capitalism and credit networks throughout Europe is a fruitful location for …
Crowds outside the Bank of United States in New York after its failure in 1931.

Blame It All on Unintended Consequences

… answer to this puzzle lies in the fact that economic activity sets in motion a battery of unintended economic … used the law of unintended consequences to explain how individual ambition served the common good. It’s not from the … intend to stimulate American consumption with the cheap credit their savings created.   When Republican and …
President Ronald Reagan in 1984.

Coming: Something New in Presidents

… to the traditional commander-in-chief profile. After having 43 presidents cut from the same cloth, we finally seem … to elect someone different. The similarities of our previous White House occupants are astonishing. In a nation of … children and notable military and political service to his credit, McCain tries to be all about the “Faith of My …
The National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

With God on Our Side

… “responsibility to history” was to “rid the world of evil.” The service ended with the singing of the Civil War anthem, “Battle … Bush, who believes America to be ordained by God and who credits God with the fact he is in the White House, has … History News Service …
Marker: "90 Miles to Cuba. Southernmost Point, Continental USA. Key West, FL"

Rethinking Cuba Libre

… spent time to write and fish, where the US and the Soviet Union perhaps came closest to nuclear warfare, and … praise. They don't ask for human rights. They just provide credit to an ally and aid to an ally. Relationship with the … as a supporter, as an ally, as a provider of money and credit. Some of the petroleum that Venezuela is providing …
The London meeting to discuss NATO military intervention in Libya, March 29, 2011.

Secretary Clinton — Leader or Figurehead?

… that he fashion himself the president’s foreign policy “vicar.”   Nitze probably had in mind his former boss, Dean … in office, between 1949 and 1953.   Acheson’s role as “vicar” was to be the wise voice of authority and the … know that it sometimes makes sense to let others take the credit, or the hits. But there may come a day in the near …
Hubert Robert's 1785 painting "Fire in Rome," showing the events of 64 CE.

The Ancient Roman Origins of Government Disaster Response

… media focus on the President. We see him conferring with advisors, reassuring people, often visiting the site of the disaster or a relief center—usually … Iucundus, Pompeii. Even Nero’s detractors had to give him credit for his response to this disaster. The only modern …
Royal Irish Rifles in foxhole at Battle of the Somme, 1916

Legacies of the Great War

… Jessica Vinas-Nelson   Welcome to History Talk the podcast that … for this was very much, oh, so a war that was fought on credit. And initially the credit for fighting, this war came from the European … Jessica Viñas-Nelson …
Communards with flags

The Socialist Legacy in France

… of Writers Talk History , host Patrick Potyondy interviews historian Alice Conklin about the history and mass … the social sciences. She's the author of "A Mission to Civilize the Republican Idea of Empire in France and West … Potyondy   Sounds like they didn't quite get a lot of the credit for fighting the Nazis during World War II or were …
Cover of Famine: A Short History by Cormac Ó Gráda.

Famine: A Short History

Review of Famine: A Short History, by Cormac O Grada (Princeton University Press, 2009)
… and around the world, demonstrates why the apocalyptic visions of Malthus, Ehrlich, and other doomsayers have not … infanticide and child abandonment, increased criminal activity during the early stages of famine (until victims become … was available but expensive, people often purchased food on credit, which provided a short-term defense against hunger …
A traditional glass of Weissbier

Keeping Beer “Pure”: The 1516 Reinheitsgebot

… produced by adding wheat to the brewer’s grist had been driving up prices for bread. The decree sought to standardize … taste for wheat beer ( Weissbier or Hefeweizen ) survived in spite of the ban on wheat in commercial and private … in February of 2016, Munich’s Deputy Mayor, Josef Schmid, credited the Reinheitsgebot for establishing a high standard …
President Harry Truman in 1945.

Can This Election Produce Another Hundred Days?

… who had largely given up on the system, the Democrats’ victory might be large enough to sustain a new hundred days. … education. But his Great Society became a casualty of the Vietnam War and a political backlash against the radical … Large sectors of the population are saddled with expanding credit-card debt, many having to pay interest that was …
Botanic Blooming sagebrush on the great plains

Why the Great Plains Are Dying

… isn’t a household name any more, but in the era after the Civil War he was among the most prominent American scientists … that there were really two Americas, one wet and one dry, divided almost exactly down the middle, roughly at the 100th … the agricultural equivalent of paying your mortgage with a credit card — the bank catches up with you eventually. In …
Richard and Mildred Loving in June, 1967.

At the Movies: "The Loving Cup"

… Loving, directed by Jeff Nichols, 2016. I’ve just finished … on the couch laughing at the TV. As Nichols’ film ends, the credits reveal the actual photograph of the Lovings on the … Villet’s photo of the Lovings on the couch during the end credits of Loving (2016). …