A man swinging a woman on roller skates, Savoy Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois

The History Behind the Roller Skating Trend

Since its invention in 1743, roller skating has been tied to Black social movements.
A young boy looking bored at his desk in a classroom

Is It Time to Reexamine Grading?

There’s compelling evidence for stronger student work and more meaningful instruction when grades in K-12 education are eliminated or made unrecognizable.
Print shows men and women riding bicycles and tricycles to a fair, 1819

Are Cyclists Reckless Lawbreakers?

Three researchers investigate whether bicyclists deserve their negative reputation.
Dr. Emile Coue, 1923

The Self-Help Mantra That Got Better and Better

Every day, in every way, the pop psychology of Emile Coué conquered 1920s Britain.
Young girl using tablet in homemade fort at home

Screen Time Guilt During the Pandemic?

Consider this: people once thought too much reading was bad for kids.
Morgan Jerkins

Morgan Jerkins: Exploring the Multitudes within American Blackness

In her new book, Wandering in Strange Lands, Morgan Jerkins takes a deeply personal look at the effects of the Great Migration.
A woman hiking in the Southwest

How Harassment Keeps Women off Hiking Trails

For many women, the pleasures of solitude in the outdoors must be weighed against the possibility of harassment.
Kimberlé Crenshaw

Kimberlé Crenshaw’s Intersectional Feminism

Legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw broke new ground by showing how women of color were left out of feminist and anti-racist discourse.
Religious candles placed by religious devotees at a Catholic shrine in San Antonio, Texas.

In Defense of Kitsch

The denigration of kitsch betrays a latent anti-Catholicism, one born from centuries of class and ethnic divisions.
A man wearing a surgical mask and gloves threading his needle with suture before an operation.

The Surgeons Who Said No to Gloves

In the late 1800s, doctors in German-speaking countries were having trouble agreeing on one simple thing: whether to wear gloves during surgery.