Punitive Portraits of the Renaissance
The Italian legal tradition called for the public display of a humiliating—but recognizable—portrait of the disgraced person.
Religion of the Devil, Philosophy of the Coiled Serpent
In yoga’s early days in the United States, skeptics warned it would lead people (e.g., women) of good faith and standing into paganism and ill repute.
The Cutting-Edge Cartoons of Winsor McCay
A prolific, meticulous artist, McCay created characters and storyscapes that inspired generations of cartoonists and animators.
Turmeric, Wrestling Spiders, and Early Christians
Well-researched stories from Undark, The Conversation, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
Elena Guro and the Cubo-Futurism Group
Informed by the philosophies of the Futurists, Guro's painting and poetry represented an era of experimentation and innovation in Russian art.
Making Music Male
How did record collecting and stereophile culture come to exclude women as consumers and experts?
Policing Radicals: Britain vs. the United States
British policing of Communism before and into the Cold War has often been compared favorably with America’s witch-hunt hysteria. But was it really better?
The Tricky Sentimentality of Lan Cao’s Monkey Bridge
The Vietnamese American literary classic undermines the readers’ expectations of a redemptive narrative of immigration and memory.
How the Indian Middle Class Came to Define Bollywood
The Hindi film industry has undergone tremendous change since the late 1940s, reflecting India's shift from a socialistic republic to a privatized democracy.
Reggae in Australia
In the 1970s, Willie Brim, a member of the Buluwai people, learned about Peter Tosh and Bob Marley from hippies who lived near his community. And the joy began.