Breaking News

This page features brief excerpts of stories published by the mainstream media and, less frequently, blogs, alternative media, and even obviously biased sources. The excerpts are taken directly from the websites cited in each source note. Quotation marks are not used.

---

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  8/6/2020
  

  The Real Reason the American Economy Boomed After World War II

  by Jim Tankersley

  Citing recent economic research, the author argues that fighting employment discrimination and ending the idea that white men have a privileged claim on good jobs will be a potent engine for economic growth if and when America recovers from the pandemic. 

• 
• SOURCE: Vinepair
  

  Florence Revives Medieval Plague-Era ‘Wine Windows’ for Contactless Service

  In Florence, the need for bars and restaurants to serve food and drinks in a socially distanced manner has seen a medieval architectural oddity revived.

• 
• SOURCE: Reason
  8/6/2020
  

  Tulane Canceled a Talk by the Author of an Acclaimed Anti-Racism Book After Students Said the Event Was 'Violent'

  Reason columnist Robby Soave questions why a speaker whose books renounce family and community histories of white supremacy would spark outrage by antiracist student activists.

• 
• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  8/2/2020
  

  Sunday Reading: Hiroshima

  Read John Hersey's influential 1946 account of the atomic bomb and its aftermath, along with related articles from The New Yorker. 

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  8/4/2020
  

  More Than a Century Before the 19th Amendment, Women were Voting in New Jersey

  For decades, there has been only anecdotal evidence that any women actually used this right.

• 
• SOURCE: Scalawag
  8/3/2020
  

  John Lewis’ Legacy: Four Southern States are Still Battling for Voter Rights

  John Lewis lived to see the birth and dismantling of voting rights that he fought and bled for.

• 
• SOURCE: WAMC
  8/4/2020
  

  Gillibrand Urges Removal Of Confederate Symbols At West Point

  The symbols include a portrait of Robert E. Lee, several locations named after Lee and a road named after Sontewall Jackson.

• 
• SOURCE: Hyperallergic
  8/5/2020
  

  Portraits that Honor the Men Who Participated in the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike

  Carl Juste’s double portrait of father and son presents an extraordinarily intimate experience on the usually busy public plaza surrounding the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in North Miami.

• 
• SOURCE: USA Today
  8/6/2020
  

  The Voting Rights Act Was Signed 55 Years Ago. Black Women Led the Movement Behind It.

  Women such as Amelia Boynton Robinson, Diane Nash and Marie Foster are not acknowledged for their efforts during the 1960s.

• 
• SOURCE: The New York Times
  8/6/2020
  

  Witnessing Nuclear Carnage, Then Devoting Her Life to Peace

  Setsuko Thurlow, a survivor of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima 75 years ago this month, has used the power of her personal story to try to rid the world of nuclear weapons.

• 
• SOURCE: Library of Congress
  8/6/2020
  

  Today in History: Cy Young's First Professional Game

  Today marks the anniversary of baseball legend Cy Young's first professional game.

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  8/6/2020
  

  After Atomic Bombings, These Photographers Worked Under Mushroom Clouds

  Photographs commissioned by Japanese newspapers in the aftermath of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were suppressed by American occupation authorities in both countries. A new book offers Americans a new opportunity to grasp the physical and human toll of nuclear weapons. 

• 
• SOURCE: CNN
  8/4/2020
  

  German Ambassador Pick Disparaged Immigrants and Refugees, Called for Martial Law at US-Mexico Border

  Douglas Macgregor described the German cultural concept of "Vergangenheitsbewältigung," which seeks to "cope with the past" and confront the atrocities the country committed in World War II, as a "sick mentality" and he downplayed the country's Nazi history.

• 
• SOURCE: Forbes
  8/5/2020
  

  Epic Lego Battles Are A Smash On YouTube

  A subculture of Lego and military history enthusiasts has achieved notoriety for posting stop-motion videos of historic battles, despite the official non-violence policy of the building toy company. 

• 
• SOURCE: Nature
  8/4/2020
  

  Two Decades of Pandemic War Games Failed to Account for Trump

  The scenarios foresaw leaky travel bans, a scramble for vaccines and disputes between state and federal leaders, but none could anticipate the current levels of dysfunction in the United States.

• 
• SOURCE: American Historical Association
  8/5/2020
  

  Remote Teaching Wiki

  Here, historians who have resources useful for remote teaching can share them, and those racing to adapt courses can search for materials instead of working from scratch. 

• 
• SOURCE: Bloomberg CityLab
  8/5/2020
  

  The Forgotten History of How Accessible Design Reshaped the Streets

  Long before the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 mandated curb cuts at all street corners, 30 years ago this summer, disabled people had pointed to the design of the street as a key locus of their political rights — the sidewalk that stands for being in public space, and therefore in the public sphere.

• 
• SOURCE: Public Books
  8/5/2020
  

  Was Impeachment Designed to Fail? (Review Essay)

  The Constitution, by design, stacks the impeachment deck strongly in the president’s favor. And it’s those 233-year-old design choices that dictated the Trump impeachment trial’s eventual outcome. Presidential impeachments are never a fair fight, and they weren’t meant to be.

• 
• SOURCE: The Guardian
  8/5/2020
  

  Revolution on Trial: Looking back at New Haven's Black Panthers at 50

  The 50th anniversary of the polarising New Haven Nine trial has led to a group exhibition exploring racial injustice.

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  8/5/2020
  

  The Revealing and Disturbing Story of America, Told Through 20 Years of Reality Dating Shows

  Reality dating shows, for better or worse, have focused a lens on the state of love, sex and relationships in American society. Here is a list of shows that define each of the 20 years of the genre (and might be historical documents someday?)