Sea Gardens, Gun Laws, and Secrets of Pollen
Well-researched stories from Quanta Magazine, Atlas Obscura, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
The Scholars Charting Black Music’s Timeline: Earl Stewart and Michael Veal
Earl Stewart and Michael Veal explore African American music from the Civil War and the evolving sounds of the Black Atlantic.
Ecosystems and Extreme Weather Events
Cyclones, droughts, and other severe climate events produce a variety of ecological responses, some of them irreversible.
Who Made That Word and Why?
No matter how many words in a language, it seems that we always need just one more to explain ourselves.
The Chilean Wide Web?
Salvador Allende’s attempt to network the national economy mirrored his government’s struggle to balance centralization and decentralization.
The Exotic “Pornography” of the Arabian Nights
The heated debates over Burton’s explicit translation of the beloved tales exposed Victorian England’s preoccupation with sex.
The Pro-Democratic Fourteenth Amendment
At the heart of recent US Supreme Court decisions, the Fourteenth Amendment was framed to require free speech and free elections in the South.
The Reality Behind Kitchen Sink Realism
The gritty dramas of the 1950s and 1960s revealed the bitterness and disillusionment of Britain's working class youth.
History, Cosplay, and Comic-Con
Donning costumes in imitation and celebration of fictional characters has a long history that crosses genres, genders, and international boundaries.
Every Good Bird Does Fine
Is birdsong music, speech, or something else altogether? The question has raged for millennia, drawing in everyone from St. Augustine to Virginia Woolf.