New Yorker pieces written by a professional historian

These are written by Jill Lepore, who has written academically about King Philip's War and slavery in 18th-century Manhattan, among other topics.  She started an English major, went into American studies, and is now the chair of History and Literature at Harvard.  So she's as academic as you can get - but also is a great example of how historical research training can allow you to comment well on a host of other topics in the non-academic world.   Note how these pieces aren't precisely history - they use history to illuminate a interesting topic.

on Tea Parties, Boston and otherwise

On writing about George Washington

On the invention of parenthood

On sex education

On children's literature