Phillip Vance Smith, II surrounded by covers of Nash News

What’s It Like to Be an Editor of a Prison Newspaper?

The incarcerated editor of The Nash News in North Carolina shares about the power of higher ed and his work at the prison newspaper.
Harper's Weekly, October 17, 1874 issue. Illustration by John A. Randolph of the scene of "A Colorado Tragedy."

The Colorado Cannibal

Prospector Alferd Packer, stranded in the San Juan Mountains, was forced to eat his companions to survive the brutal winter conditions. Or was he?

Exploring Images In (and Out of) Context

When you think you understand an image, ask yourself what contextual information might be missing.

Strange, Inglorious, Humble Things

Dorothea and Gladys Cromwell fled the constrictions of high society for the freedoms of the literary world. Ravenous for greater purpose, the twins then went to war.
A painted reed frog clambers on a small branch in Zambia

Froggie Genetics, Nature in Miniature, and Paddington Bear

Well-researched stories from Quanta Magazine, Black Perspectives, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
Mothers' Crusade for Victory over Communism

Moral Panics: A Syllabus

Research-backed stories that consider how and why moral panics begin and spread, who they serve, and what becomes of them in the end.
close up of $1 US dollar banknote

Why is the US Dollar So Strong?

Not only did post-World War II policy give the United States a managerial position in the world order, it gave it an outsize role in shaping the global economy.
Tammy Kernodle and Stephanie Shonekan

The Scholars Charting Black Music’s Timeline: Tammy Kernodle & Stephanie Shonekan

Kernodle and Shonekan explore the contributions of Black Americans to classical music and the importance of music and song for social justice movements.
Laurence Harvey and Frank Sinatra in John Frankenheimer's cold war thriller 'The Manchurian Candidate', 1962.

How Films Can Teach History

By viewing movies like The Manchurian Candidate, students can see one version of history that they can then use to dig deeper, explore more.
J. Edgar Hoover, 1932

The FBI and the Madams

J. Edgar Hoover saw the political effectiveness of cracking down on elite brothel madams—but not their clients—in New York City.