Well-researched stories from Slate, Smithsonian, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.

Oysters in Wyoming and Arizona? In the nineteenth century? Yes, and mighty tasty too!

At ten weeks old, many of the birds headed to the trenches, carrying back messages over distances of about ten miles.

Even though it's made from cannabis plants, you can't get high on hemp. But it was classified as an illicit drug for nearly 50 years.

Bridging the gap between policy and people was a central aim of the War on Poverty. Often, women were the ones who linked the government to the community.

This non-exhaustive list of readings on the role of guns in US history and society introduces the field as a subject of scholarly inquiry.

Government can regulate air quality. But some policies on smoke might be self-defeating.

Why did the Russian tsar seek to ban beards?

The promise of commercial spaceflight raises questions about how untrained travelers will endure the extreme hostility of space.

The mountain cat’s cries, like Dolly Parton’s famous songs, carry the diverse voices of rural Appalachia.