Thomas Jefferson

Congressional Representatives-elect Rashida Tlaib, left, and Ilhan Omar, right, will both use Qurans during their ceremonial swearings-in on Jan. 3, 2019.

Two reps were sworn in on the Quran. It’s a symbolic moment for Muslim Americans.

Immigration

For many Muslim Americans, the presence of a Quran is a symbolic moment amid a presidential administration that has seemed to wage an all-out war on the triple whammy of what Tlaib and Omar represent: immigrants, Muslims and women.

Book tells story ‘most famous man most of us have never heard of’

Security forces charge demonstrators after being hit by water bo

Ferguson shows how America’s racial past haunts the nation’s present

Justice
The World

American Values: Religion

Newt Gingrich takes his step into presidential primary limelight

Global Politics

U.S. House endorses ‘In God We Trust’ — but what’s its history?

Global Politics

The U.S. House of Representatives voted Tuesday to “reaffirm” that In God We Trust is the national motto. The resolution, which passed, was in support of a motto that’s actually less than 60 years old.

The promise and shame of America in Jefferson’s Monticello

Global Politics

Thomas Jefferson’s home, Monticello, is where the beauty, the promise and the shameful underside of American history come together.

Newspapers in financial trouble

Newspapers are shedding staff and reducing services — even if the economy picks up, they may not bounce back.

July 4th: An Indian-American Shares his Thoughts

Conflict & Justice

Reporter Deepak Singh shares his thoughts about observing July 4th in another country.

Transparency, Secrecy and Freedom: The History of Privacy and Democracy

As we learn more about the National Security Agency’s secret surveillance programs and leaker Edward Snowden, The Takeaway is looking at freedom in America, and freedom’s relationship to privacy. In a recent article for The New Yorker, staff writer and professor of American history at Harvard University  Jill Lepore explores the relationship between privacy, government transparency […]