Plant of the Month: The Runner Bean
From Aztec medicinal remedies to Darwin’s study of flower pollination, local knowledge about the runner bean reveals the importance of biodiversity.
Five Ways To Help the Environment While in Lockdown
We can’t be wandering outside much right now, but there are still ways to go green.
Little Richard, Cordons Sanitaires, and Shiny Chocolate
Well-researched stories from The Conversation, Items, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
Sci-Fi and Fantasy Build Mental Resiliency in Young Readers
Science fiction offers readers a way to rethink social dilemmas.
Resilience: The Basics of a Concept
From the ecological to the social, “resilience” is a buzzword for our crisis-ridden age. But what is resilience exactly, and where did the idea emerge from?
The Timeless Art of the Bookcase Flex
Flaunting a massive collection of books did not start with work-from-home videoconferences.
The Origins of the CDC
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began during World War II to prevent the spread of malaria to troops stationed in the South.
How Fritz Lang’s Flight from Nazi Germany Shaped Hollywood
German expressionism--imported to Hollywood by Jewish exiles--brought a lasting tradition of shadows, duality, and mirroring to mainstream American cinema.
The Weird Ways People Have Tied Blood Types to Identity
Scientific racism. Paternity tests. And mass tattooing, just in case of nuclear attack.
One Parallel for the Coronavirus Crisis? The Great Depression
“The idea that the federal government would be providing emergency relief and emergency work was extraordinary,” one sociologist said. “And people liked it.”