History for the Future

Through interviews with historians and journalists, History for the Future explores the historical roots of contemporary social issues and policies, often revealing the hidden assumptions and political choices defining the present.

By Kevin C. Brown | History, Labor
Georgetown University historian Joseph A. McCartin discusses the history of public sector union activism in the U.S. during the 20th century and the current struggle to preserve union rights in Wisconsin. More
By Kevin C. Brown | History, Medicine, Race
Historian Keith Wailoo discusses the role of race in constructing scientists’ and the public’s evolving understanding of cancer in the United States during the twentieth century. More
By Kevin C. Brown | History, Role of government
Anthropologist Howard Campbell discusses his book, "Drug War Zone: Frontline Dispatches from the Streets of El Paso and Juarez." More
By Kevin C. Brown | Corporate influence, History, Media
Historian Robert Vanderlan discusses the tension between the intellectuals who wrote for Fortune, Time, and Life magazines from the 1930s to the 1950s and the owner of these outlets: Henry Luce. More
By Kevin C. Brown | Alternative models, History, Race
Steven Hahn discusses how the ways that many scholars -- and Americans, generally -- have thought about the Civil Rights Movement leaves important currents and ideas out of the story. More
By Kevin C. Brown | History, Medicine
Historian Jay D. Aronson discusses role that science – DNA testing and brain imaging, specifically – plays in the criminal justice system in the United States. More

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