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History Repeats Itself

W. D. Ehrhart
A poet sensitive to injustice, W.D. Ehrhart projects a “broken-hearted world without end.”

The Writers Who Went Undercover To Show America Its Ugly Side

Samuel G. Freedman The Atlantic
In the 1940s, a series of books tried to use the conventions of detective fiction to expose the degree of prejudice in postwar America. Their books — along with Sinatra’s song and film; Richard Wright’s memoir, coincided with a surge of activism.

Why Crack Became the 1980s ‘Superdrug’

Jonathan Green The New York Times Book Review
This book "offers a fresh history of the epidemic that gripped minority communities, inflamed media coverage and led to draconian drug laws."

J. Robert Oppenheimer’s Tragedy―and Ours

Lawrence Wittner Hollywood Progressive
The July 21, 2023 theatrical release of the film Oppenheimer, focused on the life of a prominent American nuclear physicist, should help to remind us of how badly the development of modern weapons has played out for individuals and all of humanity.

How Stovemakers Helped Invent Modern Marketing

Howell J. Harris JSTOR
The history of stovemaking in the nineteenth century, as businesses turned from small to mass manufacturing, is the story of the making and selling of the first universal consumer durable.