Pop-Culture Preaching in the 1910s
Billy Sunday was a charismatic preacher who brought in thousands to his vaudeville-inspired church services.
When Buddhism Came to America
Buddhism was embraced by the Beats of 1950s America. But some Buddhists felt these converts were engaging with the practice in a shallow way.
When Home Ec Classes Borrowed Babies
In the early-to-mid 20th century, foster children in Canada and elsewhere were placed in practice homes and cared for by home economics students.
White Women’s Role in School Segregation
White American women have long played significant roles in maintaining racist practices. One sociologist calls the phenomenon "social mothering."
When Shoes Were Fit with X-Rays
Fluoroscopes were used in shoe stores from the mid-1920s to 1950s in North America and Europe -- even though the radiation risks of x-rays were well-known.
Austen Fans, Modern Belief, and Environmental Politics
New books and scholarship from Oxford University Press, Princeton University Press, and the University Press of Colorado.
People with Depression Use Language Differently
New research shows that people with depression use absolute words, such as "always," "nothing," or "completely," more often than others.
Finding the Value of Housework
Can housework be anything other than drudgery? Maybe part of the problem is that we consistently devalue unpaid work.
Down the Research Rat Hole
While writing her forthcoming book about Polynesia, the author discovered the work of Teuira Henry, a scholar and folklorist who studied ancient Tahiti.
Our Best Stories of 2018
Victorian librarians, Mister Rogers, queer time, and Jane Austen's subversive linguistics, oh my!