Death by Ice Cream
In the late nineteenth century, ice cream, a popular but poorly understood dessert, brought illness and death to America’s fairs and festivals.
Kolkata and Partition: Between Remembering and Forgetting
In West Bengal’s capital city, suppressing the painful history of the 1947 Partition allows for the celebration of moments of endurance and success.
Lipstick’s Complex History
From antiquity to the present, the laws governing the wearing of lipstick have been shaped by gender, class, safety, and religion.
Clothes Overload, Shared Emotions, and Procrastination
Well-researched stories from The Atlantic, Slate, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
The Hoax That Inspired Mary Shelley
In the hot summer of 1826, the British people—including science fiction author, Mary Shelley—embraced a fake and frozen Roger Dodsworth.
From Imperialism to Postcolonialism: Key Concepts
An introduction to the histories of imperialism and the writings of those who grappled with its oppressions and legacies in the twentieth century.
The Mpox 411
Although it’s less fatal and less transmissible than the related smallpox, there’s still serious cause for concern with the most recent outbreak.
How Mentally Ill People Fight for Their Rights
In the 1970s, a time of mass deinstitutionalization, former patients came together to found the Psychiatric Inmates Liberation Movement.
Cane Toads, Dung Beetles, and Cork Hats
Predicting the effects of introducing a species into an ecosystem is difficult. Mitigating those effects later is even more so. Just ask Australia.
How to Remember the Alamo?
A historian’s childhood visit to the Texas monument prompts questions about history, memory, and multiculturalism.