Wounded Knee and the Myth of the Vanished Indian
The story of the 1890 massacre was often about the end of Native American resistance to US expansion. But that’s not how everyone told it.
How Saint George’s Dragon Got Its Wings
As time went on, the dragons in Russian iconography slowly became more Western in style—just like Russia itself.
How 1920s Catholic Students Fought the Ku Klux Klan
There are few traces today of college students' resistance to anti-Catholic threats, but the ones that remain are powerful.
Darwin in Love
Charles Darwin, who of all people should have known better, married his first cousin. Did his love for Emma color his later works?
Why Cupid Rules Valentine’s Day
The rascally cherub has been part of Valentine's Day lore since Chaucer’s time.
Madame Sul-Te-Wan’s Forgotten Brilliant Career
The mysteriously named Madame Sul-Te-Wan was the first black actress to land a Hollywood studio contract.
Photographer Francesca Woodman’s Haunting Dissolutions
Woodman's imagery engaged with architectural and natural landscapes that were themselves in a state of change and decay.
The Politics of Drinking in Revolutionary Russia
To leaders, the ideal Soviet worker should be sober. Actual workers had other thoughts.
Paul Krugman: Everything Is Political
An interview with the Nobel prize-winning economist on what to do about the “zombie ideas” that animate contemporary political discourse.
Black English Matters
People who criticize African American Vernacular English don't see that it shares grammatical structures with more "prestigious" languages.