Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota

The Unlikely Reason Why Mount Rushmore Exists

Mount Rushmore has been controversial since its inception. Its designer, Gutzon Borglum, wanted to communicate a particular vision of American history.
Portrait of Sir Thomas Browne

Sir Thomas Browne’s Vulgar Errors

If you're suffering from exhaustion, hallucination, or a coma, then you have Sir Thomas Browne, dead 335 years now, to thank.
Karl Marx

How the American Civil War Shaped Marxism

Although Karl Marx never saw the U.S., he thought long and hard about how it fit into his theory, especially during the Civil War.
Lady Deborah Moody

Video: Lady Deborah Moody and the Founding of Gravesend, Brooklyn

A short video describing the colonial village of Gravesend, Brooklyn, founded by Lady Deborah Moody in 1643, only to somewhat mysteriously disappear.
Martin Shkreli

Is a Fair Trial Possible in the Age of Social Media?

Is it possible to have a fair trial or an impartial jury in an age when anyone is just a viral tweet or a Facebook search away?
EJI Slavery Museum

Bryan Stevenson and America’s First Slavery Museum

The Equal Justice Initiative's new museum seeks to lead a more “honest conversation about racial and economic justice."
Roosevelt Family 1903

Alice Roosevelt: The Original First Kid

Alice Roosevelt set the tone for a more public first kid and laid the foundation for post-White-House activism like Chelsea Clinton’s.
black power salute olympics

The Uneasy History of Integrated Sports in America

The integration of collegiate and professional sports parallels the civil rights movement, but in important ways it was a whole different track.
Macron, Trudeau, Trump

How Charisma Makes Leaders Great

It's easy to write off charisma as a superficial quality. Yet, studies have proven that charisma is in fact an integral element of good leadership.
Children at US-Mexico border

Inventing the “Illegal Alien”

What's an illegal alien? The idea that the most important question about immigrants is their legal status is a relatively new one.