A barefoot pedestrian is overtaken by the Royal Caledonian Basket on a road near Glasgow.

The Forgotten Craze of Women’s Endurance Walking

Hardy athletes called pedestriennes wowed the sporting world of the nineteenth century. They also shocked guardians of propriety.
A chef with the turtle he is going to use for a special soup for Independence day celebrations.

Turtle Soup: From Class to Mass to Aghast

During the days of the British Empire, soup made from sea turtles was a delicacy. Now it's almost unheard of. What explains the change?
A woman in a soviet house

Early Television in the Soviet Union

Communist Party officials saw potential in the new technology in the 1950s. So did ordinary people, but not always in the same way.
Johnny Cash poses for a portrait for a publicity shot for his movie debut in "Door-to-Door Maniac" aka "Five Minutes To Live" on Auust 3, 1960 in Los Angeles, California.

The Complications of “Outlaw Country”

Johnny Cash grappled with the many facets of the outlaw archetype in his feature acting debut, Five Minutes to Live.
classroom with Two children Doing Arithmetic. The teacher is colored red.

Did Communists Really Infiltrate American Schools?

Fears that teachers were indoctrinating kids were rampant in the 1950s. But the reality was more complicated.
Mary Malone records Henry Higgs for the Woman's Club oral history project from a Miami Herald article of June 19, 1975.

How to Gather the Oral Histories of COVID-19

The Federal Writers’ Project offers vital lessons for capturing the oral histories of ordinary Americans living through the coronavirus pandemic.
A graph of the early onset of AIDS from the alleged index case of Gaëtan Dugas aka "Patient Zero".

AIDS, from the Perspective of “Patient Zero”

We now know a great deal about how the man who's often blamed for the AIDS epidemic saw himself and his community. That's important.
A hand holding coarse dry ice pellets

Dry Ice Will Help Keep COVID-19 Vaccines Cold

A brief history of dry ice, aka solid carbon dioxide, shows why some coronavirus vaccines will benefit from its use.
An ad for Tab from 1975

Tab Cola, Advent, and Conspiracy Theories

Well-researched stories from The Conversation, Aeon, and other publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
Two Khasi girls in traditional dress at the Shad Suk Mynsiem dance, Shillong, Meghalaya, India

What Does It Mean to Be a Matriarchy?

Using the definition that European theorists invented in the nineteenth century may not work for every society, like the Khasi.