William Faulkner Goes to Hollywood
The curious, forgotten connection between William Faulkner and Charles de Gaulle.
The Periodicals That Shaped American Boyhood
19th-century "story papers" gave boys stories they liked, while also encouraging readers to contribute their own material and tell their own stories.
Photography Changed Americans’ Ideas about Nature
Many of our ideas about nature, wildlife, and conservation have their roots in the birth of nature photography.
When a Cultivated Tree Goes Rogue
The Callery pear was meant to help prevent fire blight from destroying the commercial pear industry. Then it became invasive.
The Mystery behind Charlotte Salomon’s Groundbreaking Art
Before she was killed by Nazis, Charlotte Salomon created a unique, genre-bending artwork that may have also been a confession to a murder.
The Accidental Invention of Terrariums
Victorian London became obsessed with Ward's cases, which protected plants from the city's toxic pollution -- and piqued peoples' imaginations.
What The War of the Worlds Had to Do with Tasmania
H.G. Wells's famous science fiction novel imagines what would happen if Martians did to Great Britain what Europeans did to Tasmania.
William Goldman and the Mystery of Screenwriting
Authorship of Hollywood screenplays is often a complicated matter. But William Goldman was truly a writer in Hollywood.
The Little-Known Nantucket-British Deal of 1814
Remembering a strange chapter of history when Nantucket allied itself with Great Britain.