The Voynich Manuscript: Crowd-Sourcing An Uncrackable Cipher
The Voynich Manuscript has mesmerized people ever since the man it's named after, bibliophile Wilfred Voynich, brought it up for sale in 1912.
The Evolution of the New York Restaurant Scene
In colonial America, restaurants as we know them today were virtually unheard of.
Viral Black Death: Why We Must Watch Citizen Videos of Police Violence
We should acknowledge and absorb the pain captured in videos of police violence, just as antiracist activists bore witness in the past to lynchings.
Where American Public Schools Came From
How American public schools came to be taxpayer-funded.
The Politics of Kindness in 2016
Kindness matters. It’s just that our politicians have their own reasons for their own kind behavior.
Rags, Riches, and Cross-Class Dressing in Elizabethan England
In Elizabethan England, strict sumptuary regulations made sure that people dressed according to their rank in life, but many transgressed.
The Obscured History of Jamaica’s Maroon Societies
Maroon societies in Jamaica and the rest of the Americas have survived for hundreds of years.
“Stranger Things” and the Psychic Nosebleed
Where did we get the idea that using psychic or telekinetic powers makes a person's nose bleed?
One Way to a Cleaner Ocean? Plastics!
A new technology allows ships to dredge the ocean for plastic, then compress it into bricks. But plastic recycling has proved difficult in the past.
Suggested Readings: Ginseng, New Earth, and Good News about Inequality
Extra Credit: Our pick of stories from around the web that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.