What Happens When Police Use AI to Predict and Prevent Crime?
With the dawn of artificial intelligence, a slew of new machine learning tools promise to help protect us with data.
Plant of the Month: Cretan Rockrose
Cretan rockrose has been used as a medicine for millennia. Its unusual harvesting methods were documented by the ancient historian Herodotus.
The Long Afterlife of Freedman’s Village
Freedman's Village, created in Arlington, VA at the end of the Civil War, became a thriving community of Black residents as part of Reconstruction.
Life in the Cold, New Not-Normals, and Weird Numbers
Well-researched stories from The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
The Trouble with Immortality
Stories about immortality are present in many cultures throughout time. How cultures perceive immortality—as a blessing or a curse—can differ widely.
Marketed as Natural, this Gas is Complicated
The substitution of natural gas for coal is not a simple matter. The same concerns about climate and environment remain, along with new impacts.
The Surprising Answer to Who Eats Kosher in Prison
24,000 incarcerated people in the U.S. eat kosher meals. Even some neonazis. Why?
Court Trials: The Plot Drives the “Story”
Trials create narratives that are "plot-driven." When judges attempt to see them as "character-driven," real people can be denied justice.
Drafting a Constitution: Thurgood Marshall in Kenya
In 1960, before his nomination as a US Supreme Court justice, Thurgood Marshall helped frame the constitution that would serve a new country.
How Film Ads Were Part of the Fight Against Segregation
In the Jim Crow era, Black film theaters were left out of the "first-run" distribution channels. Theater owners used creativity to attract their audiences.