Flakes of sea salt spilling out of a jar

A Grain of Solar-Made Sea Salt

 Artisanal sea salt makers are reviving the ancient method of sustainably harvesting salt.
A young girl using a cell phone while sitting on a couch.

Skull Spikes, Concentration Camps, and Reparations

Well-researched stories from Time, Nursing Clio, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
Hurricane Rita

Controlling a Hurricane

In the mid-20th century, the United States government invested in two major projects designed to control hurricanes by seeding the storm clouds.
A disabled war veteran in Berlin, 1923

When Germany Called its Soldiers Hysterical

After WWI, German psychiatrists diagnosed traumatized soldiers as having "hysteria," othering the men to somewhat disastrous effect.
Several images of people smiling

Why Are Americans So Cheery?

How Americans went from loving melancholy to focusing on controlling their emotions -- and destinies.
Tehran, Iran

Why People Live In Earthquake Zones

Millions of people now live atop fault lines because long ago small communities gathered at fresh water sources.
Algonquin Round Table

The Lonely Hearts of the Algonquin Round Table

The "Vicious Circle" of the Algonquin Round Table included sharp-tongued wits like Dorothy Parker and Alexander Woollcott. But it wasn't always vicious.
Girls in a swimming class entertain an audience of neighborhood residents at Mullanphy Pool in St. Louis, MO

When Cities Closed Pools to Avoid Integration

Many Americans lack nearby municipal pools, the lasting result of extralegal Jim Crow-era efforts to keep races segregated at all costs.
Student in a Black Studies class in a west side Chicago classroom, 1973

African American Studies: Foundations and Key Concepts

This non-exhaustive list of readings in African American Studies highlights the vibrant history of the discipline and introduces the field.
A rig in the ocean with smoke and fire protruding from top

How Natural Gas Helped Make our Industrial World

Gas was in fact one of the first readily available fuels, and shaped spaces and politics in Regency-era London.