A Bag of Old Songs from Elsewhere
Sidney Robertson Cowell might be starting to get the attention her rich life, first-rate writing, and broad work as an ethnomusicologist deserve.
Is Writing a Technology or a Language? Let’s Ask Some Aliens
Are written and spoken language really two different things?
Watch Out for Lightning
How did 300 reindeer in Norway die from a single lightning strike?
A Labor Day Look at the Future of Work
If computers endanger the hard-won gains of the labor movement, do we need a new way of addressing tech-driven income inequality?
Suggested Readings: Hair Politics, Socialist Women, and Messages in the Stars
Extra Credit: Our pick of stories from around the web that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
Thomas Edison and the War of the Currents
Thomas Edison had a big stake in the AC/DC war of the currents and would say anything to win.
The Political Power of Marie Antoinette’s Hair
With the help of a French hairdresser, Marie Antoinette embarked on what initially appeared to be a happily fated alliance between the Habsburgs and the Bourbons.
Could Immigration Save Middle America?
This election season has drawn enormous attention to the anxiety that many Americans in economically-distressed rural places seem ...
Got (Cockroach) Milk?
Is cockroach milk the next hot super food?
Fast, Cheap, and Totally Popular: Tintypes
Tintypes were an early, accessible, cheap form of photography, just the thing for on-the-go Americans.