Women’s Rights in the Early Republic
The U.S.A.'s founders focused on the rights of white men to vote, own property, and govern. The idea that women should have similar rights came later.
The Bizarre Victorian Diaries of Cullwick and Munby
Arthur Munby was an upper-class man of letters who "collected" working class women, including his servant Hannah Cullwick, whom he married in 1873.
War and Pest Control
Since World War I, the connections between pest control and war have been scientific, technological, institutional, and metaphorical.
Preserving South America’s Uncontacted Tribes
There are still tribes living in the Amazon rain forest who carry on their traditional way of life and rebuff attempts at contact.
How Jack the Ripper Became a Legend
In 1880s London, an anti-prostitution campaign, anti-immigration feelings, and a deep class divide set the scene for the Jack the Ripper media frenzy.
An Affordable Radio Brought Nazi Propaganda Home
In the 1930s, Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels led the charge to create a radio cheap enough that even workers could own one.
That Time a Woman Rode Aristotle Around Like a Horse
In the Middle Ages, the legend of Aristotle and Phyllis exemplified the “Power of Women” trope.
BlacKkKlansman in Context
A new film tells the story of Ron Stallworth, a black police officer who infiltrated the KKK in 1972. What was the context for this odd moment in history?
Why Civilizations End
Scientists studying fallen civilizations suggest that the culprit is overshoot in combination with climate change. What does this mean for our current era?
What’s in a Popularity Rating?
A leader's popularity usually has more to do with the market, the economy, and other external factors than with the leader's personality.