President Theodore Roosevelt raising his hat to wave.

The Curse of Bigness

Until more Americans know what happened in periods such as the Gilded Age, they can’t protect themselves from those who abuse history to advance poor policy.
Art depicting Jimmy Hoffa pulling the lever of a slot machine.

What Happened in Vegas

The Teamsters and Jimmy Hoffa—with a little help from the mob—built Las Vegas as we know it today.
Child laborers cleaning fruit.

The Child Labor of Early Capitalism Is Making a Big Comeback in the US

Child labor was common in urban, industrial America for most of the country’s history. Now lawmakers are making concerted efforts to repeal statutes that prohibit it.

The Peculiar Game of the Yankee Peddler—Or What Do You Buy?

Part of the utility of the game is how many intersections can be addressed, a Choose Your Own Adventure of lesson planning.
Elderly couple with iced coffee.

“Cool Off With Coffee”: Promoting Iced Coffee in Mid-Century America

In 1939, inspired by the popularity of iced tea, a cooperative of coffee growers launched a decades-long campaign to convince Americans to drink iced coffee.
A businessman superimposed over the Wall Street skyline.

How Not to Tell Stories About Corporate Capitalism

Turning the history of capitalism into a morality tale about good guys and bad guys is tempting.
Protesters holding a sign that reads "Student debt cancelation is legal"
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History Says Student Loan Debt Relief Isn’t Un-American

Americans have long demanded — and regularly received — debt relief from legislatures.
Black and white photo of Civil Rights protests with crowds picketing.

The Ambitions of the Civil Rights Movement Went Far Beyond Affirmative Action

We should find inspiration in their goals today.
The first electric car model.

Three Maintenance Philosophies Fought for Control of the Auto Industry

At the very beginning of the auto industry, no less than three radically different design-for-maintenance philosophies fought it out.
Painting of Washington and the Continental Army in winter.

Congressional Conflict of Interest

A foundational flaw of the United States.
Henry Ford

1922: Henry Ford on the Road to Riches

How Henry Ford managed the formation of the Ford Motor Company.
Graphic showing a gasoline tank (in green) leaking underground.

The Hidden Cost of Gasoline

Gas stations caused a $20 billion toxic mess — and it’s not going away.
20th century American political cartoon depicting the goals of organized employer associations.

Employer Organizing: The Importance of Hobnobbing

The focus of labor history is often—unsurprisingly—workers’ organizations and what has made them thrive or languish. But employers organized, too.
Painting of a young boy working as an apprentice, wearing an apron

How Long Did the School Year Last in Early America?

Even throwing off of a colonial power, representative institutions, Protestantism, and local autonomy in school decisions did not produce an egalitarian system.
1916 advertisement for De Angelis Brand Superior Quality Macaroni Products.

When Socialists Put an End to Pasta Inflation

The history of food inflation during World War I, and the riots that halted it, show how capitalists take advantage of consumer expectations to price gouge.
Collage of newspaper clippings with three images of Japanese Americans.

What Reparations Actually Bought

The U.S. government’s redress program for Japanese Americans showed that the money matters. But it’s not the only thing that matters.
United States Capitol

America Is Headed Toward Collapse

How has America slid into its current age of discord? Why has our trust in institutions collapsed, and why have our democratic norms unraveled?
Portrait of Jane Stanford, circa 1855.

A Poisonous Legacy

Two new books reveal the story of Stanford University’s early years to be rife with corruption, autocracy, incompetence, white supremacy, and murder.
Painting of Thomas Cooper.

Thomas Cooper: Harbinger of Proslavery Thought and the Coming Civil War

To understand the proslavery defense of the 1850s, one must reckon with the proslavery Malthusianism articulated by Cooper in the 1820s.
Calculating machines.

Plantations, Computers, and Industrial Control

The proto-Taylorist methods of worker control Charles Babbage encoded into his calculating engines have origins in plantation management.
Food with prices in store window display
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The FTC May Crack Down on Price Discrimination. Will It Matter?

The Robinson-Patman Act was supposed to prevent price discrimination — but consumers wanted cheap goods.
American flag sign that reads "NWRO," "I support a guaranteed adequate income for all Americans"

Escape from the Market

Far from spelling the end of anti-market politics, basic income proposals are one place where it can and has flourished.
Colorful abstract art

The Writers’ Strike Opens Old Wounds

The deep roots of the latest WGA strike.
Sculpture of Thinking Woman, by Louis Fleckenstein, 20th century.

The Birth of Brainstorming

Meet the self-help author who wanted to teach corporate America how to think.
Tenant farmers picking cotton in Mississippi circa 1890.

The Black Populist Movement Has Been Snuffed Out of the History Books

Often forgotten today, the black populists and their acts of cross-racial solidarity terrified the planter class, who responded with violence and Jim Crow laws.
Aerial view of Pennsylvania's Eastern State Penitentiary, 19th century.

Untangling the 19th Century Roots of Mass Incarceration

Popular accounts often trace the origins of forced penal labor to the post-Civil War South. But a vast system of forced penal labor existed in the antebellum North.
Big Bill Haywood, Adolph Lessing, and Carlo Tresca, Paterson, New Jersey, 1913.

The Wobblies and the Dream of One Big Union

A new history examines the lost promise and fierce persecution of the IWW.
The Federal Reserve building under ominous black clouds.

The Federal Reserve Exists to Protect The Economic Status Quo

What is the Federal Reserve, and who put it in charge? Is there no other way to fight inflation? Just what the hell is going on here?
Prominent writers Billy Wilder and Gore Vidal (right and second from right) join a writers’ picket line at 20th Century Fox in Los Angeles, June 25, 1981. (Bettmann / Getty Images)

Hollywood Screenwriters Have Always Known That Moviemaking Is a Form of Labor

Stretching back to Hollywood’s Golden Age, writers and many others in the industry have fought for their rights as workers.
Police beating young people with nightsticks.

"A Trap Had Been Set for These People"

A companion to a new PBS film, "The Memorial Day Massacre," the first oral history exploring the murder of 10 workers in Chicago.