American politics today is far more volatile than in the past. That makes predicting what will happen in November a temptation for fools. Expect a massive failure to resist temptation.

The Newt Gingrich campaign amused the pols and pundits, but what it says about future primary contests isn't the least bit funny.

The HBO television series The Wire, which aired between 2002 and 2008, brought Americans face-to-face with the stubborn and disturbing reality of inner-city life.

Two new books show us that racism is alive and all too well—not just in America, but in segregated cities around the world.

The recent release of a series of 1930s-era two-reelers reminds us how great Buster Keaton was even when he wasn't at this best. The Great Stone Face was no slapstick peddler, but a true harbinger of film comedy as an art form.

The history of race in America has been one of a series of "great compromises", from the Founding up to the election of Barack Obama. There are signs that the latest compromise is breaking down.

America's poorest students need extra educational resources just to keep pace with their more privileged peers. Instead, they get less—and teachers, principals and unions get blamed for the outcome.

Cyber security is an ultra-modern challenge, but we could learn a lot about it by examining how pre-modern European city-states managed their defenses.

The former director of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty assesses what's right and what's wrong with U.S. broadcasting policy.

Scholars are fond of criticizing ideologues who ransack history for useful material to promote contemporary agendas. It turns out that many scholars do more or less the same thing.