The Dawn of Kicks
Invented for a faddish game in the 1880s, tennis shoes became fashionable when manufacturers, fearing the tennis boom would go bust, pushed them off the lawn.
Sacred Groves, Medieval Babies, and Army Ants
Well-researched stories from Hakai Magazine, The Conversation, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
The Evolution of Zaha Hadid, Architect
An unconventional architect who started her career as an outsider, Hadid became a leading figure in architecture and design in the twenty-first century.
Pachuca Rebels in 1940s Los Angeles
Like their zoot suit-wearing male counterparts, young Mexican American women rebelled against white, mainstream culture through bold fashion choices.
Marie Bashkirtseff’s Diary
The art student died young, but her diary lived on to inspire future writers, including Anaïs Nin, Katherine Mansfield, and Mary MacLane.
The Flood Behind Bessie Smith’s “Back-Water Blues”
The Mississippi River flood that Smith allegedly memorialized happened weeks after she'd written and released her song. Where was the real “Back Water”?
Radical Theology: A Syllabus
Radical theology aims to construct revolutionary understandings of myth, ritual, and scripture that speak to the dearth of meaning in our contemporary moment.
Where Does Water Come From?
And what does the early modern search for the answer to this question tell us about the “scientific method” we colloquially accept today?
Planetary Health: Foundations and Key Concepts
The groundwork for the field of planetary health was laid by a range of disciplines and movements, including medicine, ecology, health, and feminism.
What is a Symbol?
A symbol can be any object, character, color, or even shape that represents an abstract concept without explanatory text. But wait, there's more!