Cropduster spraying field

War and Pest Control

Since World War I, the connections between pest control and war have been scientific, technological, institutional, and metaphorical.
Cropped hands of person making heart shape against red background

Do Dating Apps Cheapen Love?

Dating apps and services have been accused of cheapening the dominant Western conception of love. One scholar begs to differ.
Telling the bees painting

“Telling the Bees”

In nineteenth-century New England, it was held to be essential to whisper to beehives of a loved one’s death.
indigenous people brazil

Preserving South America’s Uncontacted Tribes

There are still tribes living in the Amazon rain forest who carry on their traditional way of life and rebuff attempts at contact.
methodist religious revival

When Science and Religion Were Connected

During the Second Great Awakening of 1830, science and religion were seen as “two aspects of the same universal truth.”
Colorful tabs marking pages in a book

Goats, Parasites, and Your Climate Change Future

Well-researched stories from Wired, Nursing Clio, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
A forest fire reflected in Okanagan Lake, British Columbia, Canada

How Fire Damages Water

President Trump has suggested that poor water management causes wildfires. In fact, it's often the other way around.
arsenic book

Some Books Can Kill

Poisonous green pigments laced with arsenic were once a common ingredient in book bindings, paints, wallpapers, and fabrics. Yikes.
solar city

Ecological Economics: An Oxymoron?

Mainstream economics has largely neglected to integrate ecological systems into its models. But the two disciplines don't have to be diametrically opposed.
Club Zara Boston postcard

When “Middle Eastern” Nightclubs Swept America

In the 1950s, nightclubs featuring "Middle Eastern" music and belly dancers mixed and matched cultures, serving white audiences an exotic experience.