It’s Not as Good to Be the King as It Used to Be
The trial and execution of Charles I irrevocably sundered the tradition of a divine, anointed king.
Was the Conspiracy That Gripped New York in 1741 Real?
Rumors that enslaved Black New Yorkers were planning a revolt spread across Manhattan even more quickly than fires for which they were being blamed.
Ronald Reagan v. UC Berkeley
In the late 1960s, gubernatorial candidate Ronald Reagan made political hay by picking a fight with UC Berkeley over student protest and tenured “radicals.”
Workers of the World, Take PTO!
Vacations in the Soviet Union were hardly idylls spent with one’s dearest. Everything about them—from whom you traveled with to what you ate—was state determined.
Mao Zedong: Reader, Librarian, Revolutionary?
Before becoming leader of communist China, Mao was an ardent library patron and then worked as a library assistant.
O Canada: A Refuge for LGBTQ+ People Worldwide?
Canada welcomes those facing persecution for sexual orientation or gender identity—but the process to claim asylum may not be straightforward.
In Search of Einstein’s Brain
After Albert Einstein’s death in 1955, a pathologist—searching for the secret of genius—removed, dissected, and ultimately stole the mathematician’s brain.
A Million Americans Once Voted for an Incarcerated Socialist
Eugene Debs campaigned for both president and prison reform from a federal penitentiary. His critiques of the prison system still resonate.
Whiskey, Women, and Work
Prohibition—and its newly created underground economy—changed the way women lived, worked, and socialized.
JFK’s Assassination and “Doing Your Own Research”
Revelations about secret government programs after Kennedy’s assassination increased the power of conspiracy theories and the fervor of those who set out to expose them.