Road to the Midterms: Introduction - Unprecedented Times? by Zac Christian

UNITED STATES (TXAN 24) - Someone says it each time a major news story breaks, “We’re living in unprecedented times.” Immigration problems? Unprecedented. Clashes between protestors and law enforcement? Unprecedented. Political turmoil? Unprecedented.

It seems like we cannot understand the enormity of an event unless we paint it as something that has never happened before.

Yet are these times really unprecedented?

American icon Mark Twain once said that history doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes. The exact specifics of today’s situation are unique to here and now. That doesn’t mean previous generations didn’t face similar circumstances. Whether you’re talking about a young man living in ancient China or an elderly woman living in modern America, humans have always been human—and we’ve always acted like it. Looking back at the past helps us gain different perspectives and learn from the collected wisdom of those who came before us. If you dig hard enough, you’ll discover we live in far more "precedented" times than you imagined.

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For the next months through November, everything we see and hear is going to be pregnant with politics.

It’s the great American tradition.

Every two years, we come together to cheer on Team USA at the Olympics, then we tear each other apart in the latest episode of Democrat vs. Republican. The mudslinging ads are already dominating every TV station and streaming service. Friends and family divide into camps, and certain topics turn conversation ugly at the dinner table. Tensions run high across the country.

The first weeks of 2026 have already been a chaotic mess, and I’m willing to bet the rest of the year will be, too. But “chaotic” does not mean “unprecedented!”

As we head into election season, let’s take a minute to step back and see what perspectives people from the past can give us. Hi, my name is Zac Christian. I’m a lifelong history nerd, a former high school history teacher, and a current history PhD student. I believe that exploring other times and places helps us better understand what’s happening around us.

It gives us new perspectives as we try to make the right choices in life. History has been the

great love of my life, and I’m here to share that passion with you. One of the greatest strengths to knowing history is that it gives you the power to question authority.

Every politician—every Democrat, every Republican, every Independent—is going to spend the next nine months trying to shape the narrative in their favor. At the end of the day, they all only want to win in November. Period. A lot of political figures are going to say a lot of different things, and they’re all going to claim to be the only honest one you can trust.

Knowing about the world of the past helps you make your own decisions about today’s

problems, instead of just taking some politician’s word for it.

So let’s take a look at what happened in history and see how it can help us understand

what’s happening today! Join us here on TXAN 24 News for “Road to the Midterms,” where

every other week, I’ll take the political news unfolding around us and add a historical layer to it.

In each installment, I’ll tackle three questions: what’s happening now, what happened in the

past, and why does it matter? This is not an attempt to advocate for one party or another, no

turning history into propaganda. (The politicians do that enough on their own!) Instead, we’ll

move away from all the “politician talk” and try to make sense of things in real-world terms.

Ultimately, I’m here to share what I’ve learned with you, just one person to another, as we all try to understand this crazy place we call home.

So come join me as we journey down this road.

The trip may be dark and dangerous, but with a little luck, we can get to better “unprecedented times” together.