A healthcare rally in Detroit, MI

Did the Great Recession Make Us Sick?

Mass layoffs, high unemployment, and home foreclosures resulted in declines in mental health. There may also be long-term effects that linger.
Voyager 2 near Neptune and Triton

Voyager 2 Heads into the Unknown

Forty-one years after its launch, Voyager 2 has officially crossed out of the solar system and into interstellar space. What has it discovered along the way?
Release, by Marco Cianfanelli and Jeremy Rose.

Nelson Mandela’s Lasting Image

Since his death in 2013, Nelson Mandela has achieved icon status. Why is his image so ubiquitous, reproduced everywhere from tourist kitsch to high art?
Front cover of "The Boys of New York" v.11 no.561

The Periodicals That Shaped American Boyhood

19th-century "story papers" gave boys stories they liked, while also encouraging readers to contribute their own material and tell their own stories.
Glasses Cheering

Alcohol Isn’t Good for You.

Sorry.
A Polynesian rat

Down the Research Rat Hole

While writing her forthcoming book about Polynesia, the author discovered the work of Teuira Henry, a scholar and folklorist who studied ancient Tahiti.
Two deer in the woods at night

Photography Changed Americans’ Ideas about Nature

Many of our ideas about nature, wildlife, and conservation have their roots in the birth of nature photography.
duck billed platypus

Our Best Stories of 2018

Victorian librarians, Mister Rogers, queer time, and Jane Austen's subversive linguistics, oh my!
A cow in a field

Can Cows Help Mitigate Climate Change? Yes, They Can!

Livestock emit greenhouse gases. They also can sequester carbon and boost biodiversity.
Interior with breastfeeding woman

Breast Milk as Medicine

Human breast milk has been recommended as a cure-all since the 17th century.