A correctional officer’s history of 19th century prisons and modern-day parallels. From Sing Sing to suicide watch, torture treads a fine line.

Cassava can grow in hot climates with little rainfall. It may be the "root crop of the century."

The man who introduced mesmerism to the US was a slave-owner from Guadeloupe, where planters were experimenting with “magnetizing” their enslaved people.

Well-researched stories from Psyche, Atlas Obscura, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.

Climate science frequently references ice cores, but it's what is in the cores that matters to science and history.

When you look at the canon of popular music, who's on the list looks very much like those who made the list.

The introduction of formal peer review to journals aided medical doctors in their quest to bring more scientific rigor to their field.

A religious recluse, mystic and author, Julian of Norwich wrote of Jesus Christ as a nurturing mother and teacher to the faithful.

Law firms founded on Protestant identity necessitated the creation of firms that would hire those shut out by WASP gatekeeping.

Sometimes taking the trail less traveled actually does more harm than good.