Links to Recent Articles of Interest
“What Do We Forget When We Remember Hiroshima?”
By Eric Ross, TomDispatch, posted August 12
On the meanings attached to the 1945 Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, both in the immediate aftermath and in the decades since. The author is a peace activist and a PhD candidate in history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
“American Historical Association Members Challenge Veto on Palestinian Scholasticide”
Interview of Rebecca Karl, Margaret Power, Karen Miller, and Prasannan Parasarathi by Daniel Falcone, CounterPunch, posted August 12
Supporters of the resolution condemning US aid for Israeli “scholasticide” in Gaza, which won overwhelming endorsement at the January AHA convention, discuss the controversy within the AHA and the recent election for officers of the organization. The interviewees teach history, respectively, at New York University, LaGuardia Community College. Illinois Institute of Technology (emerita), and Boston College.
“What If History Died by Sanctioned Ignorance?”
By David W. Blight, The New Republic, posted August 7
On Trump policies regarding US history, linked to Kevin Roberts of the Heritage Foundation and Project 2025. Trump’s executive order on the Smithsonian is “nothing less than a declaration of political war on the historians’ profession, our training and integrity, as well as on the freedom and curiosity of anyone who reads or visits museums.” The author teaches US history at Yale University and is the immediate past president of the American Historical Association.
“Eighty Years of Nuclear Terror”
By Lawrence S. Wittner, ZNet, posted August 3
On the growth of nuclear weaponry since 1945 and the partial successes of popular movements that have sought to create safeguards against nuclear warfare. Through public pressure for arms control and for a strengthening of international institutions such as the UN, “the catastrophe of nuclear war can be averted.” The author is a professor emeritus of history at SUNY Albany.
“I Spent Decades at Columbia. I’m Withdrawing My Fall Course Due to Its Deal with Trump”
By Rashid Khalidi, The Guardian, posted August 1
A critique of accommodations made by the hierarchy of Columbia University to demands of the Trump administration. The author is a Palestinian-American historian of the Middle East who taught at Columbia University for 23 years and was scheduled to teach a heavily enrolled course this fall as a “special lecturer.”
“Homeland Security’s Genocidal Aesthetics”
By Ed Simon, Hyperallergic, posted August 1
Likens two recent postings by the Department of Homeland Security (glamorizing the westward movement of white settlers at the expense of Native Americans, with the slogans “A Heritage to Be Proud Of, a Homeland Worth Defending” and “Remember Your Homeland’s Heritage”) to art that hailed Nazi Germany’s eastern conquests. The author is the Public Humanities Special Faculty in the English Department of Carnegie Mellon University.
By Alfred McCoy, TomDispatch, posted July 29
“Like Icarus of Greek legend, whose wings of wax carried him too close to the sun, the U.S. economy sometimes flies so high that its wax wings melt. The ensuing crash is so searing, immiserating so many for so long, that it can inspire sustained movements for change.” The author teaches US history at the University of Wisconsin. Among his books is To Govern the Globe: World Orders and Catastrophic Change (Haymarket Books, 2021).
“‘1984’ Hasn’t Changed, but America Has”
By Charlie English, New York Times, posted July 27
Likens present-day “culture war” attacks on library books in the US to the Cold War efforts of Eastern European governments to keep “subversive” books, such as 1984, out of the hands of their citizens. The author, a former journalist for The Guardian, has written The CIA Book Club: The Secret Mission to Win the Cold War with Forbidden Literature (Random House, 2025).
By Juan Cole, TomDispatch, posted July 24
How Donald Trump’s domestic policies, especially regarding immigrants, fit comfortably with the increasing authoritarianism of Middle Eastern nations. “Instead of emulating the best of Middle Eastern values such as generosity to guests and love of learning, Trump and crew seem to admire only Western-imposed authoritarianism.” The author teaches Middle East history at the University of Michigan.
“The Internet’s Vanishing Memory: How Google is Rewriting Search – and Erasing Our Digital Past””
By Steven Mintz, Substack, posted July 23.
Argues that Google’s mysterious algorithms are making it difficult to access many valuable Web pages that are not current but contain valuable historical information – not because the pages no longer exist on the Web but because they are not indexed by Google. (Examples include the author’s search for past articles in the journal Inside Higher Education). The author teaches history at the University of Texas at Austin.
“Can International Organizations Survive the Right-Wing, Nationalist Onslaught?”
By Lawrence Wittner, Peace & Health Blog, posted July 17
On the erosion of international cooperation through the defiance, notably by Russia, Israel, and the US, of the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, and the International Criminal Court. The author is a professor emeritus of history at SUNY Albany.
“A Historian Surveys the Wreckage in Gaza”
By Diane de Vignemont, Jacobin, posted July 16
An essay review of a new book by the French historian Jean-Pierre Filiu, who teaches Middle East Studies at Sciences Po Paris and wrote in 2012 a modern history of Gaza (translated into English as Gaza: A History in 2014). For his new book, Filiu slipped into Gaza clandestinely last December and spent 32 days there. The resulting book, Un Historien à Gaza, was published in France in May and is available as an eBook.Thanks to Ellen Schrecker, Rusti Eisenberg, Maynard Seider, and an anonymous reader for suggesting articles included in the above list, and to Roger Peace (whose “U.S. Foreign Policy History & Resource Guide website is updated with a “News and Views” section) for valuable consulting. Suggestions for articles to include in these occasional “recent articles of interest” mailings can be sent to jimobrien48@gmail.com.