Why the Dakota Only Traded among People with Kinship Bonds
“Trapping was not a ‘business for profit’ among the Dakota but primarily a social exchange,” one scholar writes.
When Botany Was for Ladies
In nineteenth century America, young women took to studying botany—a conjoining of interest, social acceptance, and readily available schooling.
How the Ban on Medical Advertising Hurt Women Doctors
Intended to protect consumers from unscrupulous quackery, a nineteenth-century ban on medical advertising proved to be a double-edged sword.
Hong Kong Was Formed as a City of Refugees
The story of Hong Kong, one of the most densely populated places on Earth, can't be separated from its international situation.
Can American Expansion Continue Indefinitely?
Or will continued abundance require serious changes in consumer behavior?
The Jim Crow Roots of the U.S.-Saudi Arabia Relationship
Americans started pouring into Saudi Arabia in the 1940s to develop the oil fields. They brought their ideas about segregation with them.
Did Humans Once Live by Beer Alone? An Oktoberfest Tale
Some scholars have suggested that humans first started growing domesticated grains in order to make not bread, but beer.
Industrial London’s Maternal Child Abductors
In industrial-era England, children took on new value in family life. Around this time, they started to be stolen more often, too.
The Invention of Sibling Rivalry
Sibling jealousy feels like a universal problem, but most parenting experts didn't even acknowledge it until the early 20th century.