Plate 66 of Birds of America by John James Audubon depicting Ivory-billed Woodpecker

Is the Ivory-billed Woodpecker Still Around?

With the US government poised to declare the Ivory-billed Woodpecker extinct, scientists work to determine what counts as evidence of existence.
From Dawn of the Dead

The Living Dead Embody Our Worst Fears

Zombie movies are scary fun, but they also help us examine our anxieties about contagious disease and unstoppable chaos.
A Video Player interface with a tv rating in its center

Film and TV Ratings in the Streaming Age

We've got Netflix, AppleTV, YouTube, and Prime literally in the palms of our hands. Do conventional movie and television rating systems matter to us?
Essential Quality #14, ridden by Luis Saez, heads to the first turn during the 147th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 01, 2021 in Louisville, Kentucky.

Betting on the Longshot

Researchers consistently observe that longshot horses are overvalued by bettors at the racetrack. Why are they willing to risk it all?
Exhuming the remains of President Monroe in the Second Street Cemetery

Fighting Over the Dead

There was more than one violent altercation at the cemetery when one side of the family wanted to move a dead relative, and the other didn’t.
A screenshot from a video of a woman speaking Gullah and English

The Cosmopolitan Culture of the Gullah/Geechees

Emphasizing the isolation enforced by Lowcountry geography erases the agency of Gullah/Geechee communities in the preservation of African culture.
Self-portrait in a Convex Mirror by Parmigianino

The New York School Poets

From Bernadette Mayer to Joan Mitchell. Tracing the path from the New York School poets to their painter friends.
Joseph Grimaldi as a clown

Here We Are Again!—How Joseph Grimaldi Invented the Creepy Clown

Every limb of him had a language.
Omar Khayyam, the horse that won the 1917 Kentucky Derby

Fast Horses and Eugenics

The breeding of race horses validated those aspiring to belong to an American elite while feeding into racist beliefs about genetic inheritance.
Close-up of a dial pack of birth control pills

The History of Reproductive Rights: A Syllabus

A selection of stories on the history of reproductive rights and abortion to foster dialogue inside and outside of the classroom.