Edna Ferber Revisited
The first-generation Jewish American novelist exposed entrenched prejudices of her day. A reissue of The Girls introduces her wit to new readers.
How Media Stifles Deliberative Democracy
As outlets that welcome rational exchanges of ideas dwindle those that serve as echo chambers are exploding. What does that mean for free speech and the health of the US?
Rats, Gas Stoves, and the Birth of the Universe
Well-researched stories from The Guardian, Hakai Magazine, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
Lee Miller, More than a Model
Miller photographed the chaos of war’s end in Europe, documenting major battles, the liberation of Paris, and the horrors of Dachau and Buchenwald.
Art Nouveau: Art of Darkness
First named such in Belgium, Art Nouveau was intimately tied up with that country’s brutal rule of the Congo.
When Uptown Chicago was “Hillbilly Heaven”
In the 1960s, white Appalachian workers attempted to put down roots in Chicago by building an integrated model neighborhood called Hank Williams Village.
Overcoming the Gendered Pain Gap
More women than men experience chronic pain, and that pain is often dismissed in clinical settings. Can a new approach to language and close listening help?
Economic Grrrowth in the East: Asian Tiger Economies
Can the conditions that produced the fast-growing economies of the Four Tigers—Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan—be replicated?
The Boston Athenæum
Founded in 1807, the subscription library was a gathering place for local scholars, “men of business,” and members of the upper classes in search of knowledge.
Is Racism a Disease?
Since the 1940s, mental health professionals have repeatedly debated the question of whether (some forms of) racism can be classified as a disease.