Earth’s Core, Anti-Obesity Drugs, and Cosmic Mystery
Well-researched stories from Wired, Black Perspectives, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
Tiny Worlds, Bike Helmets, and a Unique Sign Language
Well-researched stories from Nursing Clio, Smithsonian Magazine, and and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
The Colonial History of the Telegraph
Gutta-percha, a natural resin, enabled European countries to communicate with their colonial outposts around the world.
When Uptown Chicago was “Hillbilly Heaven”
In the 1960s, white Appalachian workers attempted to put down roots in Chicago by building an integrated model neighborhood called Hank Williams Village.
Is Racism a Disease?
Since the 1940s, mental health professionals have repeatedly debated the question of whether (some forms of) racism can be classified as a disease.
Opium’s History in China
Opium has been used as a medicinal and recreational substance in China for centuries, its shifting meanings tied to class and national identity.
Abstinence By Juramentos
Long before Dry January became a thing, Mexicans were using a similar program of temporary abstinence based on a pledge to the Virgin of Guadalupe.
Thomas Jefferson’s Gourmand Explorers
Jefferson’s government organized several western expeditions. Some carried luxurious supplies of food, some enjoyed local hospitality, and some nearly starved to death.
Creating the “Criminal Class”
In the late eighteenth century, Glasgow magistrate Patrick Colquhoun argued that immoral living had created a distinct class of people with weak characters.
The South Asian Human Rights Tradition
Human rights discourse drawing on ancient Sanskrit texts focuses more on the responsibilities of individuals and states than on the rights themselves.