Vietnam Veterans Memorial, National Mall

The Making of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Though now celebrated for its modern, minimal design and contemplative space, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was once the subject of heated debates.
Nasty Woman Mug

Bad Language for Nasty Women (and Other Gendered Insults)

Is it true that "nasty" is more likely to be applied to describe women than men?
Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Black Lives

As historians continue to interrogate slavery’s lasting reverberations, narratives produced by slaves themselves have become a kind of ...
Martha Stewart and Snoop Dog

Snoop Dogg, Martha Stewart, and Whiteness

Martha Stewart has a new show with Snoop Dogg, premiering November 7 on VH1.
Chinese gu wine vessels

Drinking Wine in Ancient China

History tells us that the fermentation of various fruits and grains to create alcoholic beverages was a worldwide phenomenon. Case in point: wine in China.
JSTOR Daily Friday Reads

Madeleine L’Engle

We asked JSTOR Daily readers what books and authors they remembered most from childhood. Madeleine L'Engle came up a lot.
John Le Carre

The Spy Novelist Who Was Actually a Spy

The author John le Carré, who real name is David Cornwall, is the subject of both a recent biography and his own brand new memoir, The Pigeon Tunnel.
James Baldwin

Why James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time Still Matters

For James Baldwin (1924-1987), the fundamental premises of American society needed revisiting. How we might view #BlackLivesMatter through his lens.
Dorothy's ruby slippers

Consumerism and The Wizard of Oz

The Smithsonian Institution is running a Kickstarter campaign to restore and preserve Dorothy’s ruby slippers from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.