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Christopher Furlong / Getty The 140-Year-Old Dream of ‘Government Without Taxation’
In 1879, a political economist argued that wealth derived from land value belonged to the American public. Today, economists are reviving interest in his ideas as a way to combat wealth disparities.
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Associated Press Elite-College Admissions Were Built to Protect Privilege
Even as selective schools opened their doors to a wider array of applicants in the early 20th century, they put policies in place to maintain the advantages of wealthy white students.
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Getty Not That Kind of Girl
In her influential 1959 Atlantic article, “Sex and the College Girl,” Nora Johnson predicted that young, educated women pursuing expansive new opportunities would likely end up disappointed. She spent the rest of her life finding out what could happen instead.
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Joseph Sohm / Shutterstock / AP / The ... When Demagogic Populism Swings Left
During the Great Depression, a Trumpian figure established unprecedented political control in Louisiana and attracted criticism for his autocratic methods—while pursuing a radical progressive agenda.
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Frances Benjamin Johnston / Library of Congress Blackface Was Never Harmless
In 1869, an Atlantic writer remembered darkening his face with burnt cork and acting out exaggerated caricatures of blackness with little reflection on the racial oppression and violence around him.
