Research-backed stories that consider how and why moral panics begin and spread, who they serve, and what becomes of them in the end.

J. Edgar Hoover saw the political effectiveness of cracking down on elite brothel madams—but not their clients—in New York City.

A century ago, a lost tomb was uncovered on the west bank of the Nile River. The scarcely studied Pharaoh Tutankhamun immediately became an icon.

Troubles grew at the Portland institution when one of its older residents attempted to poison himself after being questioned by police about same-sex relations.

Researchers are concerned not only with our exposure to mis- and disinformation but with the depth of confidence people have in their inaccurate beliefs.

The Town of Boston’s invention of the standing committee 250 years ago provided a means for building consensus during America’s nascent independence movement.

Formerly incarcerated people comprise the largest group of disenfranchised American voters. The American Prison Newspapers collection offers fresh insight into the issue.

Telling a spooky story around a campfire—or in a dorm room—may be the best way to keep a local legend alive.

Psychical researcher Harry Price combined the power of academic language with a cultural identity crisis to build a reputation as a “scientific” ghost-hunter.

In its plans for the conquest of Eastern Europe, the Third Reich looked to the example set in Africa by Fascist Italy.