How Have Music Charts Stayed Relevant?
Music charts conferred status on performers and became an arbiter of popularity and a signifier of success.
This Creepy Radio Broadcast Played With the Power of the Medium
Radio dramas became a way for broadcasters to get into the minds of listeners…and to comment on the very influence of radio itself.
Paul Beatty, Man Booker Prize Winner
Paul Beatty has become the first American author ever to win the Man Booker Prize. Beatty won the award for his sharp satirical novel The Sellout.
Why America Went Medieval
In the middle of the nineteenth century, upper-class America went gaga over a vision of the medieval. Carpenter’s Gothic ...
Plants Know When They Are Being Eaten. (And They Fight Back.)
Plants have long employed a variety of defensive strategies against herbivores, but the scope and sophistication of these defenses is still being understood.
Ten Poems By Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath was born on October 27, 1932, and became in her short life one of the most influential poets of the era.
How A Gambling Duchess Changed British Politics
Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, won and lost fortunes, giving into a compulsion that pitted her against some of society’s most notorious ne’er-do-wells.
The Nitty-Gritty on Reduplication: So Good, You Have to Say it Twice.
Reduplication is a widespread linguistic process in which a part or an exact copy of a word is repeated, often for morphological or syntactic reasons (but not always).
How Scary is Too Scary?
Halloween poses questions for parents, like how scary is too scary for their kids? The answer depends on when we ask the question.
The Surprising Historical Significance of Fortune-Telling
The possible futures predicted by fortune-telling happen just often enough to tantalize, preying on our deepest aspirations of catching a "big break."