Excerpts

Curated stories from around the web.
New on Bunk
The newsroom of the Mobile Press-Register, ca. 1982.

How Computers Became Portable: Journalists and the “Origin Story” of Working from Home

Journalists helped to pioneer what would eventually result in our mobile world.
Wilmington after the massacre.
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The Troubling Consequence of State Takeovers of Local Government

State efforts to usurp local government power over schools, elections, and police tend to diminish Black political power.
FBI agents and local police examine a bombed out pickup truck in Natchez, Mississippi.

The History of Violent Opposition to Black Political Participation

Leaders in the 20th-century South faced violence and death for promoting voting rights; systemic failure enabled their killers to go unpunished.
Man reading a newspaper

A Brief Literary History of the Newspaper Endorsement

When did endorsements become pro forma, anyway? And what do they even do?
Painting depicting the Salem Witch Trials.

Did the Witch Trials Ever Truly Come to an End?

Marion Gibson’s research rigorously traces the legal and human aspects of the trials through today.
A puffin with a fish in its mouth next to a puffin decoy.

50 Years of Project Puffin: An Oral History of an Incredibly Audacious Idea

In 1973, a young biologist hatched a plan to bring a charismatic seabird back to Maine. Over five decades, it would revolutionize seabird restoration.
People protesting the demolition of homes to make way for the performing arts saying "shelter before culture."

Lincoln Center Destroyed Lives for the Sake of the Arts

The terrific new doc “San Juan Hill” chronicles the 1960s land grab that gave the Metropolitan Opera a home, while scattering longtime residents.
Haitian gang members carrying assault rifles, standing in the center of a stylized rifle sight.

Haiti’s Agents Of Fear

Haitians are caught between the grip of violent gangs and the messy legacies of foreign intervention.
Art piece of W.E.B. DuBois and people with outstretched arms.

Solidarity and Gaza

Black people see what is happening to Palestinians, and many feel the tug of the familiar in their heart.
Illustrations of a skeleton and an angel in a book.

This 19th-Century ‘Toy Book’ Used Science to Prove That Ghosts Were Simply an Illusion

“Spectropia” demystified the techniques used by mediums who claimed they could speak to the dead, revealing the “absurd follies of Spiritualism.”
A sketch of a woman praying outside.

“To Eat This Big Universe as Her Oyster”

Margaret Fuller and the first major work of American feminism.
Portrait of Jenny Lind by George Healy.

Jenny Lind, Taylor Swift, and Another Era's Tour

How the Taylor Swift of her age captivated New Orleans.
Haitan commuinty members bowing their heads in prayer.

The Coming Witch Trials

It’s time to care for the community—not cleanse it.
Leatherface swinging a chainsaw branded with the American flag.

It Might Be the Scariest Movie Ever Made. There’s Never Been a Better Time to Watch It.

The vibes right now are very "Texas Chain Saw Massacre."
Crystal Eastman
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Crystal Eastman Plans for After the Election

A reading from 1920 on the fights that follow the 19th Amendment: “Now at last we can begin.”
State Correctional Institution at Camp Hill Administration Building, with a restricted entrance sign in front of its doors.

The Porous Prison

How incarcerated people have become separated from American society.
Map of Central Park.

How Central Park Holds the Answers to Big NYC Secrets

From ancient Native American trails to billion-year-old rocks, take an in-depth look at the thousands of years of history housed inside this iconic park.
Donald Trump

Donald Trump Would Be Weaker the Second Time Around

Donald Trump wants the ideology of William McKinley and Gilded Age Republicanism, but with a totally different social base. It won’t work.
Screen shot from Carrie in which a bloody hand grabs a girl.

The Startling History of the Jump Scare

From 1942's "Cat People" to cerebral jolts in "Hereditary" and "Get Out," this cinematic scare tactic still shocks.
1937 ad showing three women in underwear.

From Torpedo Bras to Whale Tails: A Brief History of Women’s Underwear

The popular reception of thongs, bras, boy shorts and other intimate items.
Seal of the CIA nestled against a background of modern art.
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Was Modern Art Really a CIA Psy-Op?

The number of MoMA-CIA crossovers is highly suspicious, to say the least.
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain wears a shirt reading ‘Trump is a Scab’ at the Democratic National Convention.

How Organized Labor Shames Its Traitors − The Story of the ‘Scab’

It’s important to understand why some workers might be motivated to weather scorn, rejection and even violence from their peers.
Funeral home.

Purple Coffins: Death Care and Life Extension in 20th Century American South

How deathly rituals affect our perception of personal dignity.
Emmett Till's photo is seen on his grave marker in 2002.

Journalist Withheld Information About Emmett Till’s Murder, Documents Show

William Bradford Huie’s newly released research notes show he suspected more than two men tortured and killed Emmett Till, but suggest that he left it out.
Protestors and counter-protestors face off holding flags and posters.

Two Americas?

Heather Cox Richardson argues that there are two Americas: one interested in equality, the other in hierarchy. But it's not that simple.
A photograph of the massive AIDS memorial quilt with the Washington Monument in the background.

“I Am the Face of AIDS”: Ryan White and the Politics of Innocence in the History of HIV/AIDS

Ryan White helped challenge existing understandings of the AIDS epidemic. But his story also reinforced arbitrary divisions between the guilty and the innocent.
Map of the US Air Force Atlantic Missile Range stations in 1957

Making the American Orbit

The U.S. military operated a Grand Turk missile tracking station for 30 years, with limited local benefits, highlighting American expansionism's impact.
Illustration of a faceless Virgin Mary and Elizabeth, holding sonograms of the unborn Christ and John the Baptist.

How an American Film in 1984 Shaped the ‘Fetal Personhood’ Movement

The success of the movie ‘The Silent Scream,’ made by onetime abortionist Bernard Nathanson, continues to influence the pro-life narrative.
The USS Constitution glides through Boston Harbor.
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Early Americans Knew Better Than President Trump How To Prioritize Health

A public uprising forced Boston to prioritize fighting smallpox over the economy in 1792.
William Rehnquist

The Late Supreme Court Chief Who Haunts Today’s Right-Wing Justices

William Rehnquist went from a lonely dissenter to an institutionalist chief—and his opinions are all the rage among the court’s current conservatives.

A Little Bit Softer Now, a Little Bit Softer Now…

The gradual decline of the fade-out in popular music.
Photo of 5 skeletons controlling panels.

Notes from the Cold War Underground

The weapons infrastructure of the Cold War is now getting rented out on Airbnb or memorialized as patriotic kitsch.
Photo of Framer  James A. Bayard then a modern day photo of Congresswoman Liz Cheney.

How Past and Present Catch Up With Each Other

The election of 1801 offers a first-hand example of how current events can offer historians new perspectives on the past.

Call of Duty: Pentagon Ops

Inside the weird synergies that launched the videogaming industry—and made the Pentagon fantasies in Call of Duty its stock in trade.
Talc and soapstone statue from North Carolina.

Who Were the Mysterious Moon-Eyed People of Appalachia?

Tales of strange, nocturnal people haunt the region—and so do theories about who they were, from a lost Welsh "tribe" to aliens.
St. Francis on the Brazos church.

How a Mediterranean Spiritual Movement Went Global

From the ruins of the Spanish Civil War to air force bases in Texas.
Medicine chest.

The Trial That Sparked Maine's 1840 Abortion Statute

Maine passed its first abortion statute in 1840, not long after the pardon of Dr. Call. Could there be a connection?
Screenshot of soldiers and an explosion.

Noam Chomsky on How America Sanitizes the Horror of Its Wars

On the origins of America's hegemonic foreign policy.
Black and white photo of Boston’s Old Corner bookstore (1900).

Bookselling Out

“The Bookshop” tells the story of American bookstores in thirteen types. Its true subject is not how bookstore can survive, but how they should be.
Title page of Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Searching for the Elusive Man Who Inspired Uncle Tom’s Cabin

John Andrew Jackson spent a night at Harriet Beecher Stowe’s home as he fled north. Why do so few traces of his visit remain?
Ronald Reagan preparing for a broadcast on Voice of America.

Whose Ronald Reagan?

Fighting over the legacy of a conservative hero in the era of Trump.
Supreme Court building.

Lifetime Tenure for Supreme Court Justices Has Outlived Its Usefulness

While letting justices serve during “good behavior” was designed to encourage impartiality, it now tends to promote the opposite effect.
Picture of a baseball card of designated runner, Herb Washington.

Speed Kills

Two striking reminders of the game-changing potential of great speed and its limited value unless accompanied by other essential skills.
A Gallup poll.

Lessons From the Birth of Modern Opinion Polling

As George Gallup pioneered new methods of surveying the public, The Nation opined on their dangers—and democratic possibilities.
George Washington

Drink Like a Founding Father

Make one of President George Washington's favorite cocktails.
An old, crumbling Victorian house with figures from horror, including Toni Collette in Hereditary, a zombie, Edgar Allen Poe, and Stephen King.

American Horror Stories

It just might be the great American art form. You can thank the residents of Salem for that.
Attendees look at a map of the U.S. electoral college during the Republican National Convention (RNC) near the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.
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The Debate That Gave Us the Electoral College

John Dickinson's contributions to the Constitution continue to reverberate today.
John Sherman
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The Other Sherman’s March

How the younger brother of the famous general set out to destroy the scourge of monopoly power.
Statue of Jefferson Davis next to other leaders in Statuary Hall in the Capitol.

Many Wealthy Members of Congress are Descendants of Rich Slaveholders

Researchers measured lawmakers’ wealth and found that those whose Southern ancestors owned slaves before abolition have a higher net worth today.
A crowd of people in court during the Salem Witch Trials.

How Dogs Were Implicated During the Salem Witch Trials

Sometimes an accused witch was believed to have had a dog who would do her bidding; to others, the devil appeared in the form of a dog.
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