Devil's Island

The Devilish History of Devil’s Island

French Guiana's Devil’s Island has witnessed some of humanity’s hardest moments, from the brutalities of slavery to the punishments of penal servitude.
Cambodian New Year's celebration, Trairatanaram Temple, Lowell, Massachusetts, 1988

Tapping Cultural Values Against Domestic Violence

Southeast Asian Americans navigated evolving cultural norms while building grassroots organizations to combat violence against women.
Adolf Hitler at his Berghof mansion in Obersalzberg.

A Blind Beetle Named Hitler?

The case for changing offensive names of animals and plants, and how it can be done
From the cover of Published by the Author

Self-Publishing and the Black American Narrative

Bryan Sinche’s Published by the Author explores the resourcefulness of Black writers of the nineteenth century.
The Feast of the Gods, 1514/1529 by Giovanni Bellini

Mining for European Art

Advances in painting in early modern Europe were the product not just of artistic innovation but of changes in mining and manufacturing technology.
Woman with purple hair enjoying music on black headphones with eyes closed against an orange background

Healing Music, Self-Coups, and Monkey Business

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

Çatalhöyük: Its Story Continues

Our understanding of the Neolithic city of Çatalhöyük continues to evolve as archaeologists challenge inherited biases in the face of new material evidence.
Frame from the movie La Coquille et le Clergyman (1928)

Surrealism in Cinema, 100 Years On

A century after the publication of the first Surrealist manifesto, the role played by film in the movement is still unfolding.
Wilhelm Reich portrait

Wilhelm Reich: Twice Burned

A psychoanalyst and physician, Reich fled the Nazis only to be detained by the US as an “enemy alien” during World War II. And then came the sexual revolution.
Nizamiye Mosque in Midrand, Greater Johannesburg, South Africa

Recovering the Malay Manuscripts of South Africa

Descendants of those trafficked from Southeast Asia to South Africa by the Dutch, Cape Malay Muslims use surviving kietaabs to connect to their heritage.