Mary Ellen Wilson

Origins of Child Protection

Legend has it that the campaign to save abused children in New York was driven by the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The truth is more complicated.
a pictorial map of the life of Mark Twain

Pictorial Maps of the United States

Explore US history with these maps of national parks, folklore, 1930s Greyhound bus routes, and more!
The Mirabal sisters

Remembering the Mirabal Sisters

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women honors three sisters who were murdered by the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic.

This Revolution Will Be Amplified

From Lil Nas X to Valerie June to Darius Rucker, Black musicians are staking their claim in country music. Francesca T. Royster explains.
A voter checks in at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3103 polling location on November 8, 2022 in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

What Makes Us Vote the Way We Do?

According to some political scientists, it's more about group identity than personal interests.
two people knee before a white cross and flowers at a makeshift memorial for the five people killed by a gunman during a mass shooting at Club Q in Colorado

Red Flag Laws and the Colorado LGBTQ Club Shooting

What are red flag laws? Could they have prevented the killing at Club Q?
Lyrebird

Tricky Birds, Birmingham Murders, and Dance Music

Well-researched stories from The Atlantic, The Republic, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
Homemade Air Fryer potato chips in a paper lined wire basket on dark background

The Fakelore of Food Origins

Where did potato chips come from? How about clams casino? Are the origin stories for these foods true, or do they fall into the category of “fakelore”?
Woman Drinking Coffee by Léon Étienne Tournes, part of the collection of the Gothenburg Museum of Art

The Swedish-American Coffee Tradition

For many Swedish immigrants to the United States, coffee was a key to hospitality and a way to signal prosperity.
Chinese astronauts from China's Manned Space Agency, left to right, Tang Hongbo, Nie Haisheng, and Liu Boming wave at a departure ceremony before launch of the Senzhou-12 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on June 17, 2021 in Jiuquan, Gansu province, China.

Challenging the Hegemoon: the Geopolitics of Space Infrastructure

Cooperative space initiatives between non-US powers such as China and South America are under-explored in scholarship and misunderstood in popular politics.