Cover of Trumbull Park by Frank London Brown

How Trumbull Park Exposed the Brutal Legacy of Segregation

Frank London Brown’s 1959 novel, which presents a powerful story of white supremacist hatred, has been selected for the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame.
On the left, Heliconia tarumaensis Barreiros (with yellow bracts); on the right, Heliconia acuminata L.C. Richard (with yellow and red bracts). Dumbarton Oaks Rare Book Collection.

Plant of the Month: Heliconia

Heliconias can distinguish among pollinators like hummingbirds and respond selectively to their visits.
Gouverneur Morris

Gouverneur Morris’s Secret Sex Diary

The author of the preamble to the Constitution spent years in Europe as a businessman, diplomat, and connoisseur of the pleasures of the flesh.
A cat with its eyes closed

Cat Blinks, Fox Food, and E.B. White

Well-researched stories from Mental Floss, Wired, and other publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
The cover of the first edition of Slan by A.E. van Vogt

The Self-Styled Sci-Fi Supermen of the 1940s

Way before there were stans, there were slans. Too bad about their fascist utopian daydreams!
Birds flying past the windows of a building

Migrating Birds Face an Unexpected Danger: Glass Buildings

Research shows that building collisions take a staggering annual toll on North America's bird population.
Scribes from Meketre's Model Granary ca. 1981–1975 B.C.

How to Fight with Friends in Ancient Egypt

A scholar finds that some ancient Egyptians who were literate wrote annoyed letters to friends.
A line drawing of a girl with a tablet

Does Virtual Learning Work for Every Student?

Given Covid-19, schools have limited options for teaching kids. What’s working and not working in the era of online learning?
Daisetsu Teitarō Suzuki photographed by Shigeru Tamura

D.T. Suzuki’s Very American Zen

Zen was a conservative form of Buddhism in Japan that eventually became a way for Americans to find inner peace.
A grizzly bear c. 1955

The Scientist Who Wanted Grizzly Bears Eliminated

In the late 1960s, two highly visible deaths from grizzly bear attacks led to a debate about whether humans and bears could coexist.