Women and men in the California Gold Rush, 1850

Yes, Women Participated in the Gold Rush

“Conventional wisdom tells us that the gold rush was a male undertaking,” writes the historian Glenda Riley. But women were there, too.
A scene from The Christmas Angel

The Theatrical Magic of The Christmas Angel

The silent film director Georges Melies made a unique and wonderful Christmas film by borrowing the theatrical techniques of French “feeries.”
An angry mob in front of a computer screen

Cancel Culture Is Chaotic Good

Cancel culture may prove to be the most memorable linguistic trend of the past decade.
Empress Joséphine holding a Jacquemus Mini Le Chiquito handbag

Our Best Stories of 2019

Tweety bird linguistics, tiny purses, Beowulf's monsters, and the evolution of beauty.
John Tyndall's setup for measuring radiant heat absorption by gases

How 19th Century Scientists Predicted Global Warming

Today’s headlines make climate change seem like a recent discovery. But Eunice Newton Foote and others have been piecing it together for centuries.
A person typing on a computer

How to Use Zotero and Scrivener for Research-Driven Writing

This month, I’m doing something a little different with my column: I’m sharing the system I use to write it, so that you can use or adapt my system.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson makes a statement in Downing Street on December 13, 2019 in London.

Carolina Words, Brexit Time, and Weird Ancient Art

Well-researched stories from NPR, Washington Post, and other publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
A man holding a cell phone against a mirror

When Product Placement Goes Wrong

It was a lesson brands could have used in the early 2000s.
A Christmas Carol

Pirating Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, in the 1840s

When Parley's Illuminated Library published a pirated version of A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens decided he had had enough.
Prince Andrew

Who Survives a Political Scandal?

For a public figure, a scandal is a predictable hazard of the trade. What's less predictable, however, is who survives one.