Depressed teen girl in black clothes playing guitar sitting on bed in her room.

Why Do We Listen to Sad Music?

Scientists investigate the emotional and physical effects of sad music, in an ongoing quest to explain the "paradox of pleasurable sadness."
An illustration from the Bantam edition of Graham Greene's The Quiet American

When the CIA Was Everywhere—Except on Screen

Hollywood was just fine avoiding all portrayals of the Central Intelligence Agency for years after the agency's founding in 1947.
Medieval illumination of a dog, 14th century, from a Codex in the Czech Republic

The Hardworking Dogs of Medieval Europe

Not everyone can be a pampered pooch.
Litograph of A. Faguet, Dracaena stricta

Plant of the Month: Cordyline

Plantfluencers? Back in the nineteenth century, it was the dazzling leaves of cordyline that set trends in domestic style.
Librarians in Gary, Indiana protect themselves with masks in October 1918 during the flu pandemic

Libraries and Pandemics: Past and Present

The 1918 influenza pandemic had a profound impact on how librarians do their work, transforming libraries into centers of community care.
Marker drawing of Rodney King speaking while a recording of the beating plays at his civil trial against the city of Los Angeles, California

How the Media Covered Police Brutality Three Decades Ago

The first stories about the beating of Rodney King in two major newspapers focused on racial injustice. But that changed.
King Kong

King Kong, Mole Rats, and the Mark of the Beast

Well-researched stories from Wired, Mongabay, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
Clockwise: Nicole Sealey, Ishion Hutchinson, Marilyn Nelson, How Nguyen, Cathy Park Hong, WS Merwin

Sonnets by 11 Contemporary Poets

The name of this fourteen-line poetic form comes from the Italian sonetto, meaning "a little sound or song."
Cover for A Book of Nonsense by Edward Lear, c. 1875

There Once Was a Poem Called a Limerick

Whose history, they say, isn't quick. It's all such a muddle, it can leave you befuddled, whether you like the clean or the sick.
Washington Arch, New York, 1907

Who Lived in Greenwich Village before the Bohemians?

The neighborhood of New York City was a haven for Catholics before it earned its reputation as a haven for artists.