Two Girl Scouts collecting magazines

When the Girl Scouts Were Accused of Being Commies

In response to right-wing attacks during the Cold War, the Girl Scouts changed their tone. Somewhat.
The New Shepard Blue Origin rocket lifts-off from the launch pad carrying Jeff Bezos along with his brother Mark Bezos, 18-year-old Oliver Daemen, and 82-year-old Wally Funk

Bezos in Space, Ice Cream Science, and Trash Parrots

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

How Oysters Became a Food Fad Way out West

Oysters in Wyoming and Arizona? In the nineteenth century? Yes, and mighty tasty too!
Signal corps, pigeon section, 1919

How Pigeons Helped Fight World War I

At ten weeks old, many of the birds headed to the trenches, carrying back messages over distances of about ten miles.
Leading Kentucky hemp farmer Joe "Daddy Burt" Burton with a harvested hemp plant.

The Return of Hemp

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.
National Welfare Rights Organization activists marching in Washington, DC, May 1968.

How Poor Women Shaped the War on Poverty

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.
An illustration of a revolver

Guns in America: Foundations and Key Concepts

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.
Firefighters monitor a controlled burn at Bouverie Preserve on May 30, 2017 in Glen Ellen, California

Smoke Pollution from Prescribed Burns vs. Wildfires

Government can regulate air quality. But some policies on smoke might be self-defeating.
Peter the Great cutting a Boyar's beard

Peter the Great’s Beard Tax

Why did the Russian tsar seek to ban beards?
Portrait of astronaut in space suit and helmet

Space Medicine for the Inexperienced Astronaut

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