Adam Smith

Adam Smith, Revolutionary?

By 1800, Smith—once considered a friend of the poor and an enemy of the privileges of the rich—was already being refashioned into a icon of conservatism.
old morse key telegraph on wood table

The Colonial History of the Telegraph

Gutta-percha, a natural resin, enabled European countries to communicate with their colonial outposts around the world.
seaweed on a spoon

Eating Seaweed in the Americas

From the kelp highway to blue plate kelp specials, seaweeds are gaining greater acceptance on the dining tables in the Americas.
Fanny Cradock, 1976

The Rise and Fall of Fanny Cradock

Cradock was one of Britain's first celebrity chefs, but in what her viewers called “the Gwen Troake Incident,” she fell from her pedestal—hard.
An illustration from Paahao Press Volume 2, Issue 1, 1972

After Attica, the McKay Report in the Prison Press

How was the famous prisoner uprising and its aftermath depicted in the prison press? The American Prison Newspapers collection on JSTOR has answers.

Elements of Design: Spotlight on Color

Color, like line, shape, texture, and the other elements of art and design, communicates meaning and creates visually compelling experiences. Here's how.
An orangutan attacks a woman and pulls her hair in an illustration for the murder scene in Edgar Allan Poe's short story 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue,' early 1840s. A victim lies on the floor, and a witness watches through a window.

“The Murders in the Rue Morgue” by Edgar Allan Poe: Annotated

Poe's 1841 story, arguably the first detective fiction, contains many tropes now considered standard to the genre, including a brilliant, amateur detective.
circa 1945: A portrait of American writer Edna Ferber (1887 - 1968) crossing her arms. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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.
Illustration of two people trying to communicate through tin-can phones with a disconnected string

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?
Australian native Bush Rat (Rattus fuscipes) in the wild

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.