An illustration of 19th-century lovers

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Lust

The turn from punishing sexual activity outside of marriage toward the idea of personal sexual freedom began in the West between 1600 and 1800.
Serrakunda market, The Gambia

When “Traditional” Religion Shakes Up Gender Roles

In The Gambia, adherents of the Tablighi Jama‘at movement believe in the segregation of men and women, which often affects gender roles in unexpected ways.
Dakota pipeline protestors

Celebrating Indigenous Peoples and Cultures

More and more states are choosing to celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day instead of Columbus Day.
Model of Henry Cavendish's Torsion Balance Gravitational Apparatus, 1798

The Strange Experiments of Henry Cavendish

Cavendish was an idiosyncratic scientist who conducted fascinating experiments, such as “weighing” the Earth and splitting water into its constituent elements.
A compressor station of the Jagal natural gas pipeline stands as wind turbines spin behind on May 24, 2023 near Mallnow, Germany.

Bye-Bye, Russian Gas!

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sparked an energy revolution, forcing European states to reconsider their dependence on Russian oil imports.
Satellite image of salt deposits on Mars

“Follow the Salt”: A New Strategy for Finding Life on Mars

Scientists might be looking for Martian life in the wrong place.
The cover of Lost Literacies: Experiments in the Nineteenth-Century US Comic Strip

Lost Literacies Strips Down the Dawn of Comics

In his new book, literary historian Alex Beringer demonstrates how the birth of the genre of printed comic long preceded the Sunday Funny Pages.
From the poster for Lee

Lee: The Past Ever Haunts the Present

A new film shows how American photographer Lee Miller used the camera to bring the brutalities of World War II to the homefront.
An illustration of K'awiil, the Maya god of storm, on pottery.

Lightning Gods, Staticky Bugs, and Modern Genetics

Well-researched stories from Vox, SAPIENS, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Gae Aulenti: An Independent, International Architect

One of the best-known female architects to come out of Italy, Aulenti found fame with her transformation of a dated Parisian train station into the Musée d’Orsay.