"[Let's] consider one way the cliché is frequently used by white people in the United States: in conversations about the history of enslavement, especially ones about 'Founding Fathers' who enslaved people."

"America is littered with bogus historical markers, especially those detailing the mythic activities of George Washington and other Founding Fathers. The question becomes, does the insidious logic of the white nation exist within those memorials today?"

Some articles about how historians do their work.

Some articles about how historians do their work.

Really great piece with a lot to say for high school educators. The conclusion: “to leave people with ways of thinking about the past that can actually hold up in the world” is something we should think about in our approaches in the classroom.

"If history is just what happened, why do you all make it so complicated?" Our latest, from Anna Snyder.

“. . . it’s not just that most academic writing doesn’t earn you anything—most of the time, it costs you.”

"If history is just what happened, why do you all make it so complicated?" Our latest, from Anna Snyder.

If you're a donor to the magazine, check the bonus podcast feed to hear Oline Eaton read "Welcome to This Class." If you're not a donor, you can always read the text version on our website or donate today to gain access to all bonus articles and recordings.

Bonus recording now available to donors, or read the original piece on our website. contingentmagazine.org/2026/06/26/w...

Bonus recording now available to donors, or read the original piece on our website. contingentmagazine.org/2026/06/26/w...

If you're a donor to the magazine, check the bonus podcast feed to hear Oline Eaton read "Welcome to This Class." If you're not a donor, you can always read the text version on our website or donate today to gain access to all bonus articles and recordings.

“In Shakespeare’s case, that pushback took the form of people doubting how someone of his background (a glovemaker’s son who was grammar school educated at best) could have risen to such literary heights. Essentially, this conspiracy theory is rooted in classism.” There it is.

We are in mailbag heaven at the magazine this year, and this is the latest and greatest. I would love to hear the conspiracy theories that you encounter when talking about your work with people outside the field. Do you take the same approaches as Lorna?

Buzz Aldrin had one way of responding to conspiracy theorists. In our latest mailbag, @lornawallace.bsky.social offers some alternate approaches.

Buzz Aldrin had one way of responding to conspiracy theorists. In our latest mailbag, @lornawallace.bsky.social offers some alternate approaches.

For some who use “revisionist history” as a pejorative, the idea that history involves inquiry and interpretation is the problem itself.

“How did human rights and development—two distinct concepts with unique histories—come to be so intertwined in U.S. foreign policy?”

"The conversations I had with music critics were also a healthy reminder that scholars working in university departments have no monopoly on popular music discourse, to say nothing of intellectual conversation more generally." Grant Wong with a postcard from PopCon (Randy Newman was not invited).

If you are a donor to the magazine, you can now hear Allison Horrocks read her essay “When John Brown’s Body is Wax” over on our bonus podcast feed.

oh are we talking about Advanced Placement?

Assigning this piece for day 1 of my ancient magic course in the fall!

". . . turning a blind eye to science’s potential for harm tends to harm marginalized people the most."

". . . turning a blind eye to science’s potential for harm tends to harm marginalized people the most."

"Brushing off these practices as unscientific implies that 'true' science is, and always has been, unimpeachable. It denies us a chance to examine what flaws may fuel our own ways of thinking." A new mailbag from @wbarlowrobles.bsky.social

An unforgettable opossum is waiting on the other side of this link... #histsci #envhist

Remember that whole conversation about eugenics and "real science"? Well, this is for that.

This is excellent

"Brushing off these practices as unscientific implies that 'true' science is, and always has been, unimpeachable. It denies us a chance to examine what flaws may fuel our own ways of thinking." A new mailbag from @wbarlowrobles.bsky.social

"A drought takes a perfect storm—then it causes one: an exact combination of violent climate conditions, causing an equal amount of violent cultural activity that embodies its own grief, rage, zeal, and horror, all at once."

🐝🐝🐝🐝 contingentmagazine.org/2020/04/11/t...

🐝🐝🐝🐝 contingentmagazine.org/2020/04/11/t...

"In the show, the Forest Service ranger reflects the broad-minded optimism of this political moment and his implied role as a mediator distinct from timber interests."

"In the show, the Forest Service ranger reflects the broad-minded optimism of this political moment and his implied role as a mediator distinct from timber interests."

"Public forgetting, like public memorialization, can have a swift and easy outcome if the forces intent on causing the loss of memory have enough power and put enough effort into the project."

"The danger is not in practicing revisionist history—it’s in constructing individual and collective lives around historical frameworks too shaky to be looked at again."

"Public forgetting, like public memorialization, can have a swift and easy outcome if the forces intent on causing the loss of memory have enough power and put enough effort into the project."

"The danger is not in practicing revisionist history—it’s in constructing individual and collective lives around historical frameworks too shaky to be looked at again."

"From a German perspective, it was a rare opportunity to experience Canadian war memory first-hand."

"From a German perspective, it was a rare opportunity to experience Canadian war memory first-hand."

"I wrote 'duped' in my notebook and underlined it twice. Faithful pilgrim that I am, devoted Franciscan, I had collapsed in a cemetery with my head bowed for a lie."

"What I remember, and what I believe, is how it feels to be showing up during all of this. The effort involved in being present, bearing witness, and trying, in circumstances in which, as contingent faculty, it so often feels our efforts are never adequate, and we are, all of us, doomed."

"What I remember, and what I believe, is how it feels to be showing up during all of this. The effort involved in being present, bearing witness, and trying, in circumstances in which, as contingent faculty, it so often feels our efforts are never adequate, and we are, all of us, doomed."

"[Rosenberg] insists we should avoid relying on stories as a source of truth about the past. To be safe, and to advance human knowledge, we should engage in analytic reasoning instead—the kind of reasoning that he believes is the province of scientists, which often contradicts our intuitions."

"[Rosenberg] insists we should avoid relying on stories as a source of truth about the past. To be safe, and to advance human knowledge, we should engage in analytic reasoning instead—the kind of reasoning that he believes is the province of scientists, which often contradicts our intuitions."

"I saw a specimen of science and the natural world, of course, but I also saw a beautiful object constructed, created, by people—by paleontologists, museum curators, engineers, and welders."

"I saw a specimen of science and the natural world, of course, but I also saw a beautiful object constructed, created, by people—by paleontologists, museum curators, engineers, and welders."

(pssst we'd love to know what pieces you've loved over the years)

Seven years ago, we published our first piece, a gorgeous essay by @kerileighmerritt.bsky.social. Since then, we've published nearly 400 pieces and paid every single contributor for their work. Thanks to everyone who's donated to, read, and taught with our magazine over the years!