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Fernando Pessoa, 1914

“The Poet Is a Man Who Feigns”

Portuguese modernist Fernando Pessoa channeled a grand, glorious chorus of writers—heteronyms, he called them—robust inventions of his unique imagination.

Read Before You Go

View of the Rock of Gibraltar as seen from the Sierra Carbonera Mountains of Cadiz, Spain

Gibraltar: Where Two Worlds Meet, the Monkeys Roam

Home to the genetically unique Barbary macaques, Gibraltar serves up an intriguing mix of European cultures to residents and tourists alike.

The Where We Were

Weston Havens House

Searching for Queer Spaces

The dominant heteroview of architectural history means we may lose our queer spaces and their histories before we even know they exist.

Suggested Readings

Great Chocolate, Emotional Capitalism, and Goat Teeth

Well-researched stories from Smithsonian Magazine, Sapiens, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.

Most Recent

A row of British women sitting under hairdryers in a Paris salon

A Short History of Hairdryers

The beauty parlor became a place of sociability for women in the twentieth century, partly aided by modern technology of hair drying.
Cotton plantation

Understanding Capitalism Through Cotton

Looking at the development of cotton as a global commodity, explains historian Sven Beckert, helps us understand how capitalism emerged.
William Maclure

A Boatload of Knowledge for New Harmony

Leaders of the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences voyaged down the Ohio River in 1825–1826, taking academic education on a journey in search of utopia.
Announcer

How did 1960s Jacksonville Become a Musical Hotspot?

Short answer: crime.

More Stories

Read Before You Go

View of the Rock of Gibraltar as seen from the Sierra Carbonera Mountains of Cadiz, Spain

Gibraltar: Where Two Worlds Meet, the Monkeys Roam

Home to the genetically unique Barbary macaques, Gibraltar serves up an intriguing mix of European cultures to residents and tourists alike.

The Where We Were

Weston Havens House

Searching for Queer Spaces

The dominant heteroview of architectural history means we may lose our queer spaces and their histories before we even know they exist.

Suggested Readings

Great Chocolate, Emotional Capitalism, and Goat Teeth

Well-researched stories from Smithsonian Magazine, Sapiens, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.

Long Reads

William Henry Fox Talbot, by John Moffat, 1864

The Daguerreotype’s Famous. Why Not the Calotype?

William Henry Fox Talbot’s obsession with protecting his pioneering photographic process doomed his reputation and reduced his legacy to historical footnote.
Three covers from Venus Magazine

From the Black Queer South to the World

Across its twelve-year lifespan, Atlanta-based Venus magazine brought southern voices to the larger Black queer print media network.
Ismat Chughtai

Ismat Chughtai’s Quilt and Queer Desire

Long before India decriminalized homosexuality—in September 2018—the short story "Lihaaf" sparked outrage and a lawsuit for its depiction of same-sex, intergenerational intimacy.
An 18th Century pornographic cartoon featuring Marie Antoinette and the great French General and politician Lafayette, c. 1790

No Joke

Using humor to mask and normalize hatred and bigotry has a long, ugly history.

Scientists have three theories about why people and animals eat dirt.

The Question of Geophagy: Why Eat Dirt?

Produce is offered for sale at a grocery store on October 13, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois.

The Price of Plenty: Should Food Be Cheap?

The supermarket revolution made food more affordable and accessible than ever. But do the hidden costs of food feed into our illusions of justice and progress?
Handsome young adult man standing next to his electric vehicle and using his smart phone while his car is plugged into the charging station

EV Cars: Can We Electrify Our Way Out of the Climate Crisis?

The transition to personal electric vehicles in the United States is a cornerstone of the plan to decarbonize transportation. But will it work?
Evo Morales speaking at a press conference at the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, Cochabamba, Bolivia, 2010

Cochabamba People’s Agreement: Annotated

In April 2010, representatives from 140 countries gathered in Bolivia to outline an explicitly anti-capitalist, decolonial agenda for the sake of the planet.