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This Week in People’s History, Feb 18–24, 2026

Portside
A crowd of civilians confronting a British Army tank during the Irish War of Independence
Dublin’s a Tough Battlefield (1921), ¡Karen Silkwood, Presente! (1946), Chaplin’s Anti-Capitalist Masterpiece (1936), 500,000 Dead and Counting (2021), A Hard-Won Victory for Farm Workers (1986), Colonialism Grows Out of the Barrel of a Gun (1826)

Noam Chomsky and Jeffrey Epstein. Why, Noam?

Danny Spector Thoughts-letter Substack
The Chomskys apologize for being manipulated, for being too trusting, for not researching Epstein’s background, for their “lapse in judgment.” That’s fine. But the Chomskys caused harm. They have yet to apologize for that.

Trump Is Tearing Apart the North American Auto Industry

Taylor C. Noakes Convergence
In the 1960s, the Auto Pact deal integrated the US and Canada’s auto sectors. Donald Trump’s trade war will all but guarantee its unraveling, spelling catastrophe for workers and firms alike.

Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Show Was Political Art at Its Best

Cruz Bonlarron Martínez Convergence
It’s no wonder Donald Trump was enraged by Bad Bunny’s halftime show at the Super Bowl. The Puerto Rican trap star has grown into the role of political artist, and the creativity of his music is an indictment of MAGA’s schlock-filled cultural wastela

The Evolution of Black Bookstores

Jessica Max Stein The Indypendent
21st century Black booksellers generation brings activism and business together in a way that skirts the debates of their predecessors; to them, the work is all of a piece.

Deadlier Than Gettysburg

Drew Gilpin Faust The Atlantic
How the cruelty of the Confederacy’s prison camps gave rise to the rules of war