Weight Discrimination Is a Health Problem
The perception of weight discrimination shapes both people’s experience of their own weight status and their disability outcomes.
Vegetarian Heretics and the Christian Church
Since the religion’s early days, Christian thinkers have treated vegetarianism sometimes as heretical, sometimes as evidence of saintly asceticism.
Actual American Rattlesnakes
Historians are recovering the overlooked history of North America’s Crotalus horridus, the timber rattlesnake.
The Sacred and Profane Dogs of Mongolia
In Mongolia, dogs are close companions to humans and a key part of a cosmology with Buddhist and shamanic influences. But they’re also seen as unclean.
Blackface on Stage in “Old Japan”
The use of blackface may seem out of place in a Japanese-inspired stage production—until you think about the money to be made by dealing in stereotypes.
Why Did Truman Support Civil Rights?
Truman’s domestic agenda attempted to solve the problem of Black American oppression while undermining the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.
Tavolette: Paintings to Comfort the Condemned
Charged with saving the immortal souls of the condemned, comforters held tavolette showing the Crucifixion in front of the eyes of those facing execution.
Shifting Forces: The Evolving Debate Around Dark Energy
New evidence suggests the universe might not behave as expected, raising questions about the costs of being wrong.
The Intersection of Dance and Science
Lynn Matluck Brooks dives into the ever-evolving relationship between movement and technology.
Before Deep Blue: the Automaton Chess Player
You may have heard of IBM’s chess-playing computer, but Johann Nepomuk Maelzel’s Automaton Chess Player beat Deep Blue to the (mechanical) punch. Check mate.