Prince performs at the 10th Anniversary Essence Music Festival at the Superdome on July 2, 2004 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Philosophy of Posthumous Art

For some creators, death isn’t the end of their career. How should we think about completing and releasing their work afterward?
Three young women in swimsuits, ca. 1920

Policing the Bodies of Women Athletes Is Nothing New

For women who play sports, there's often no way to win.
Freeways in Los Angeles

The Permanent Crisis of Infrastructure

Ever since it entered public consciousness in the 1980s, infrastructure has been synonymous with decline.
Walter Rubusana

How Walter Rubusana Paved the Way for Nelson Mandela

Rubusana was the first Black politician elected to office in colonial South Africa.
James McCune Smith

For James McCune Smith, Racism Was All Over Anthropology

What if the creation story of anthropology isn't exclusively about white men classifying people as primitive?
Women's fashion catalogue images from the 1930s

The Back-to-School Shopping Tradition in History

As more women went to college, department stores catered to them by setting up pop-up "college shops" every September.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Venus, the Green Knight, and Old-School Peaches

Well-researched stories from Wired, Struggles from Below, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
An illustration of somebody using an inhaler

Asthma Tropes and the Kids Who Hate Them

Children with asthma respond to the movie executives who see them as weak people helped by magical inhalers.
Aerial View of Boreal Nature Forest in Summer, Quebec, Canada

Climate Change’s Dangerous Effects on the Boreal Forest

The forest's unique ecosystem protects the world's largest carbon sink—the Earth's permafrost layer. But for how much longer?
Businesspeople working and maintaining social distance on a sofa in a modern office

Here’s Why the CDC Recommends Indoor Masks for the Vaccinated

The CDC guidance applies to areas with high coronavirus transmission rates.