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.
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.”
Cancel Culture Is Chaotic Good
Cancel culture may prove to be the most memorable linguistic trend of the past decade.
Our Best Stories of 2019
Tweety bird linguistics, tiny purses, Beowulf's monsters, and the evolution of beauty.
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.
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.
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.
When Product Placement Goes Wrong
It was a lesson brands could have used in the early 2000s.
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.
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.