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!

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!

"When the field of history is left uncrowded by historians with full-time employment, historical actors—with self-serving intentions—who wish to exculpate and justify their actions will fill the vacuum."

"When the field of history is left uncrowded by historians with full-time employment, historical actors—with self-serving intentions—who wish to exculpate and justify their actions will fill the vacuum."

I shared some of my thoughts about writing historical fiction over at Contingent.

"In the 1950s and 1960s, the Dominicans collected rare printed books in Arabic, particularly Muslim devotional works . . . These books are slim and ephemeral . . . Most other repositories of rare books in the Muslim world don’t think they’re worth collecting."

“Imagination is a vital tool that any writer must deploy to access aspects of the past.” Our latest, from Ben Nadler.

“Imagination is a vital tool that any writer must deploy to access aspects of the past.” Our latest, from Ben Nadler.

"In the 1950s and 1960s, the Dominicans collected rare printed books in Arabic, particularly Muslim devotional works . . . These books are slim and ephemeral . . . Most other repositories of rare books in the Muslim world don’t think they’re worth collecting."

". . . 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."

". . . 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."

"Of course, the okapi was new only to European eyes. To people from Central Africa, the okapi had been known for millennia. But to the British, it did not exist until Europeans could see it—or at least its corpse. Even then, African facts were far less appealing than European 'discoveries.'”

"Of course, the okapi was new only to European eyes. To people from Central Africa, the okapi had been known for millennia. But to the British, it did not exist until Europeans could see it—or at least its corpse. Even then, African facts were far less appealing than European 'discoveries.'”

"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?"

"We were easy to spot, clad in architectural garments in Balenciaga’s signature black." A postcard from @hottycouture.bsky.social

"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?"

"We were easy to spot, clad in architectural garments in Balenciaga’s signature black." A postcard from @hottycouture.bsky.social

from @contingent-mag.bsky.social and worth your time: "the central contradiction of the early American Legion ... a benign custodian of memory and shared sacrifice in combat, yet one haunted by its history of vigilantism and exclusionary nationalism." contingentmagazine.org/2026/02/02/o...