Writing Online Fiction in China
Many amateur “fan fiction” writers on the Chinese internet use real history as a canvas for time-travel stories that often break the fourth wall.
Hi, Jai Alai
Once popular across the United States, jai alai lives on in American sport culture mostly thanks to its history as a legal option for gambling.
Biking While Black in DC
Because of its political structure, Washington became a test case in federally mandated laws that enabled racially discriminatory policing of public space.
When French Citrus Colonized Algeria
The citrus industry in Algeria honed French imperial apparatuses and provided a means for France to define and shape the behavior of its colonial subjects.
How Jazz Albums Visualized a Changing America
In the 1950s, the covers of most jazz records featured abstract designs. By the late 1960s, album aesthetics better reflected the times and the musicians.
Dr. AI Will See You Now
The integration of artificial intelligence into public health could have revolutionary implications for the global south—if only it can get online.
Women Warriors Make Great Propaganda
The presence of female fighters gives legitimacy to armed rebellions and increases the chances of support from international NGOS and other external actors.
Brain Mapping, Blindness, and a Mystery in a Cave
Well-researched stories from Smithsonian Magazine, Wired, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
Nella Larsen’s Lessons in Library School
Larsen’s novels were influenced by her training in the New York Public Library system, where she faced rigid ideas about the racial classification of knowledge.
Taiping: China’s Nineteenth-Century Civil War
Partially coinciding with the American Civil War, the Taiping “Rebellion” in China was one of the most destructive conflicts in history.