Two moms playing with son in front of Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco

Kids Need Dads—Or Do They?

Data suggest that fathers can be fantastic, but there’s no magic ingredient they supply for children’s emotional, educational, or social development.
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a mid-level solar flare – as seen in the bright flash in the middle –on Dec. 16, 2014 shortly before midnight EST.

Face Mites, Casanova, and Apocalyptic Disasters

Well-researched stories from The Guardian, The New Yorker, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
The New India Museum, Whitehall-Yard. Illustration for The Illustrated London News, 3 August 1861.

Imperial Science and the Company’s Museum

The East India Company’s London museum stored the stuff of empire, feeding the growth of new collections-based disciplines and scientific societies.
A White-crowned Sparrow

A Noisy City Affects Birdsong

As anthropogenic ambient noise increases in urban areas, birds adapt their songs to make themselves heard.
At La Souris, Madame Palmyre, 1949 by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Palmyre’s Belle Époque Lesbian Bar

By providing sexualized entertainment to tourists, the bar owners of Montmartre made visible and even celebrated the quarter’s queer culture.
Chuck Berry does the splits as he plays his Gibson hollowbody electric guitar in circa 1968.

Race, Rock, and Breaking Barriers

The rock music industry brought more than a little racism to the radio, but a few artists pushed beyond the boundaries imposed by white audiences.
Octavia Butler

Octavia Butler’s Roots in Black History

The Parable books seem different yet familiar, their plots framed by a world shattered by racism, economic inequality, and climate change.
A woman's sari and feet

Fighting for Sex Workers’ Rights in India

Labor unions for sex workers reveal how sexuality, gender, and caste intersect in a precarious and often dangerous work environment.
Scene from 'Mischievous Matt,' Bracebridge Hemyng (Jack Harkway's), new story in No. 487 Frank Leslie's Boys' and Girls' Weekly

Dime Novels and Story Papers for Kids

The rise of popular literature for children put a story, a role model, and a set of values in a young boy’s pocket.
Gertrude Stein

Is it a Crime?

An appreciation of Gertrude Stein’s pulp explorations.