tree bark

Tree Bark and Fire

A tree's hard outer bark helps it survive. Studying why it's thicker on some trees than others could help scientists understand how to protect them.
Two illustrations of Brassica rapa, turnips and mustard greens, 1804

Video Games, Vegetables, and Black Home Schoolers

Well-researched stories from Wired, Aeon, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.28033142

The Summer of Love Wasn’t All Peace and Hippies

Articles in the underground press capture what's missing from our romanticized memory of that fateful season.
Stokely Carmichael, 1973

Stokely Carmichael, Radical Teacher

The civil rights leader who changed his name to Kwame Ture encouraged students in the Mississippi Freedom Schools to think critically.
A young woman with a Chiquita sticker on her forehead above the title Bananas

Smoking Banana Peels to Get High Was Briefly a Thing

But it didn't work. The rumor, spread by the underground press in 1967, probably led to many disappointed hippies.
Helen Keller, 1956

What Does It Mean to Call Helen Keller a Fraud?

A TikTok trend is only the most recent example of how people often question the abilities of marginalized groups.
Tornado

When Tornadoes Strike at Night

Injuries and fatalities tend to be higher if people are asleep.
A crystal ball with an oil field inside of it

The Mediums Who Helped Kick-Start the Oil Industry

Apparently some people communed with spirits to locate the first underground oil reserves.
An anatomical machine of Prince Raimondo di Sangro

The Anatomical Machines of Naples’ Alchemist Prince

Rumor had it that these machines were once the Prince’s servants, whom he murdered and transformed into anatomical displays. Scholars showed otherwise.
James Baldwin

James Baldwin and the FBI

The author was monitored for his political activities, but also for being gay. The surveillance took a toll on him.