by Nell McShane Wulfhart Stewardesses aren’t the first workers that come to mind when you think of the labor movement. But behind that smiling, compliant, conventionally attractive image lies a group of militant unionists who led an unheralded workplace revolution that changed American history. In the beginning of the 1960s, the airplane cabin might have

By Caitlin Landuyt, Editor, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group   I am being haunted by the ghost of Michel Foucault. Each time I think I’ve read or studied him for the last time, something conspires to bring him back into my life. My last foray into his philosophy was in grad school, where I was getting

Beginning with pre-Revolutionary America and moving into the movement for Black lives and contemporary Indigenous activism, Afro-Indigenous historian, Kyle T. Mays argues that the foundations of the US are rooted in antiblackness and settler colonialism, and that these parallel oppressions continue into the present. He explores how Black and Indigenous peoples have always resisted and struggled

The 1619 Project is The New York Times Magazine’s award-winning reframing of American history that placed slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative. The project, which was initially launched in August of 2019, offered a revealing new origin story for the United States, one that helped explain not only the persistence of

Whether in political debates or discussions about immigration around the kitchen table, many Americans, regardless of party affiliation, will say proudly that we are a nation of immigrants. In this bold new book, historian Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz asserts this ideology is harmful and dishonest because it serves to mask and diminish the US’s history of settler

October is LGBTQIA+ History Month, dedicated to celebrating the diversity and history of the community. We are celebrating with books that shed light on the history of the community, with stories from inspiring individuals to the struggle for LGBTQIA+ rights to significant events that influenced LGBTQIA+ culture going forward. Delve into our list of recommended

Excerpted from Bessie Smith: A Poet’s Biography of a Blues Legend by Jackie Kay   There are some people whose voices ring out across the centuries, who, even after they have gone, possess a strange ability to still be effortlessly here. Bessie’s voice has that quality. Unsettled most of her life, she still unsettles. Try

The 21st century began optimistically in Latin America. Left-leaning leaders armed with programs to reduce poverty and reclaim national wealth were seeing results—but as the aughts gave way to the teens, they began to fall like dominos. Where did the dreams of this “pink tide” go? Look no further than the original culprits of Latin

Called “powerful and provocative” by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, author of the New York Times bestselling How to be an Antiracist, White Tears/Brown Scars reveals how white feminism has been used as a weapon of white supremacy and patriarchy deployed against Black and Indigenous women, and women of color. Taking us from the slave era, when white women fought

To commemorate Constitution Day and the signing of the United States Constitution in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787, we have assembled a list of books that can help guide students in understanding the constitution.   Penguin Guide to the United States Constitution  This guide includes annotations and accessible explanations from one of America’s most esteemed

Penguin Random House is proud to celebrate Latinx & Hispanic Heritage Month.  We are highlighting the works of our incredible authors from the Latinx and Hispanic community whose stories and characters have a profound impact on our society.  Using #IAmLaCultura, join us this month and beyond in sharing stories of the Latinx and Hispanic voices

By: Jess McHugh   Who gets to tell the American story?   That was the question that preoccupied me in the years of researching and writing Americanon. I was fascinated by the ways in which commonplace books, owned by millions of Americans—from almanacs to primers to cookbooks—shaped and reshaped American identity over generations of reading.