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Art Is (Girlfriends Times Two)
Art & Art History

Visiting “Soul of a Nation”

A new exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum asks: Is there a Black aesthetic?

Cabinet of Curiosities

A contraption used to extract the silk from a spider

The Tangled History of Weaving with Spider Silk

Spider silk is as strong as steel and as light as a feather, but attempts to industrialize its production have gotten stuck, so to speak.

Suggested Readings

A pink pill on a table amongst white pills.

Real Placebos, Brutal Progress, and Paleolithic Myths

Well-researched stories from Longreads, The Atlantic, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.

Lingua Obscura

Neon text on the side of a building reads "All we have is words, all we have is worlds."

The Hidden Life of Modal Verbs

A linguist explains why we get so distracted by the fiery language of politics, while ignoring urgent information reported by scientists.

Roundup

Thanksgiving table

Thanksgiving Stories

Americans are getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving, the middle entry in the Halloween-Thanksgiving-Winter holidays trifecta. Plate up with some ...

Most Recent

Constantine Samuel Rafinesque
Plants & Animals

The Raffish and Radical Constantine Samuel Rafinesque

Constantine Samuel Rafinesque was an adventuring naturalist who named 2,700 genera and wrote about evolution before Darwin. Why has he been forgotten?
Building Colonies for WW1 Veterans
Politics & History

Building Colonies for WWI Veterans

After World War I, policymakers seriously considered the idea of setting up farming colonies for returning veterans.
A person in distress, from graffiti in Finland
Health

Pathologizing Distress

One bioethics scholar wonders if modern medicine is in danger of pathologizing what are painful, but normal, human experiences.
A cluster of deep sea octopus Muusoctopus robustus.
Plants & Animals

The Last Vigil of the Octopus Parent

For some species of octopus, reproducing is a lonely act that ends in death.

More Stories

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Neon text on the side of a building reads "All we have is words, all we have is worlds."
Lingua Obscura

The Hidden Life of Modal Verbs

A linguist explains why we get so distracted by the fiery language of politics, while ignoring urgent information reported by scientists.
selling great britain to texas
Politics & History

The Plan to Sell Texas to Great Britain

Stephen Pearl Andrews, a lawyer, Houston socialite, and abolitionist, concocted a plan to free Texas' slaves—with a hint of treason.
Cuisine des sorcières
Politics & History

What Caused the Salem Witch Trials?

Looking into the underlying causes of the Salem Witch Trials in the 17th century.

Long Reads

The remains of a carved turkey's carcass on a cutting board
Science & Technology

It’s Time to Reinvent Food Waste!

Startups worldwide convert refuse into energy, biomaterials, and more food.
selling great britain to texas
Politics & History

The Plan to Sell Texas to Great Britain

Stephen Pearl Andrews, a lawyer, Houston socialite, and abolitionist, concocted a plan to free Texas' slaves—with a hint of treason.
guy fawkes mask
Politics & Government

The Gunpowder Plot, Redux

The cultural meaning of Guy Fawkes’ conspiracy to blow up the House of Lords has shifted, from countercultural symbol to HBO drama.
Science & Technology

Can Re-Clamming Our Harbors Keep Superstorms at Bay?

Hurricanes like Sandy destroy coastlines. Clams and oysters help keep them together.

Editors' Picks

Politics & History

The Irish Were Way Ahead of the Soda Water Trend

Soda water is a popular beverage now, but it was once considered a cure, among other things.
Arts & Culture

Women’s Expressions of Grief, from Mourning Clothes to Memory Books

Mourning clothes were a signal to the world that a family—really, that a woman had suffered a loss.
Science & Technology

What is Ambergris and Where Does it Come From?

Ambergris, a waxy-like substance found in perfumes, has a unique origin.
Arts & Culture

Personification is Your Friend: the Language of Inanimate Objects

So it entirely slipped my mind that Lingua Obscura recently turned one (yay!) and is now a veritable ...
Science & Technology

It’s the End of the World as We Know It. Is there Any Room for Optimism?

Climate scientists tend to be optimistic and have faith that humanity can engineer our way out of the climate change we’ve created.

Arts & Culture

Land of the Lotus Eaters, a painting by Robert S. Duncanson

Marking the Grave of the First African American Landscape Artist

Robert S. Duncanson was among the first African American artists to gain international fame. And yet his grave has stayed unmarked for 146 years.
Jenny Lind the Swedish Nightingale. Poster from the collection of the University of Sheffield.

Superfans in the Nineteenth Century

Americans have long obsessed over their favorite musicians.
Then-Fox anchor Megyn Kelly covering the 2012 Democratic National Convention

100 Years of Fox News

When it began as Fox-Movietone News, the company was known for appealing to viewer's tastes by leaving out upsetting news, including the rise of fascism.

Columns

Otto Marseus van Schrieck - Stilleben mit Insekten und Amphibien, 1662

A Recipe for Flies and Frogs

And other wonders of spontaneous generation.
Factories Emitting Pollution

Why Climate Change Is a National Security Issue

Viewing climate change through a national security lens makes a certain amount of sense -- but it won't entirely solve the problem.
creepy old house at night

There’s Someone Buried under the Floor!

The story of a building that will not stand until a living human being is imprisoned in its foundations is so common as to form it own genre.

Studies have shown that the act of anthropomorphizing can alleviate loneliness and promote social connection.

Personification is Your Friend: the Language of Inanimate Objects

Politics & Government

Nixon and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai toast during Nixon's 1972 visit to China

How Nixon Paved the Way for Trump

Richard Nixon's voters had a lot in common with Trump's, especially in their idealization of the self-sufficient, independent American businessperson.
Digital illustration of connected cities

Do Sister Cities Matter?

Sister cities may seem like mere symbolic pairings, but many actually share meaningful ties that are deliberately instituted and sustained.
guy fawkes mask

The Gunpowder Plot, Redux

The cultural meaning of Guy Fawkes’ conspiracy to blow up the House of Lords has shifted, from countercultural symbol to HBO drama.

Economics

Nosferatu

Marxferatu: Teaching Marx with Vampires

For a younger generation trying to understand Marxism, the best way in may be: vampirism.

Can Universal Basic Income Achieve Economic Security?

A wealthy country like the United States needs a solution for improving the supply and fairness of work overall. Is universal basic income the way to go?
solar city

Ecological Economics: An Oxymoron?

Mainstream economics has largely neglected to integrate ecological systems into its models. But the two disciplines don't have to be diametrically opposed.

Education

Photo by _HealthyMond . on Unsplash

Autism Education, “Silent Sam,” and Regulating TV

New books and scholarship from UNC Press, The University of Texas Press, and Oxford University Press.
Fire Blazes At Iconic National Museum of Brazil

Brazil’s Museu Nacional Was More Than Just a Museum

Brazil's oldest natural history museum has burned down. The institution played a crucial part in creating Brazil's identity as a country.
Oberlin College's Memorial Arch

A Progressive College’s Complicated Relationship with Race

Oberlin College was founded by religious idealists committed to abolitionism and integration. Then public attitudes began to shift.