Our Writers’ Favorite Stories of 2021
Without our writers (and editors and fact checkers and producers) and you, we're nothing.
How “Termites of the Sea” Have Shaped Maritime Technology
These small marine pests have been eating our ships for millennia, forcing us to keep building better boats throughout history.
The Snowy Winter that Devastated Colonial New England
For eleven days in February and March 1717, New England was hit with four major snowstorms. The devastation struck some as a sign from God.
The Disappearance of Japan’s “Third Gender”
Gender roles in Edo Japan recognized an in-between position for young men, called Wakashu, that was erased as Japan westernized.
Food and Culture
Food is complicated. That creation you love from The Great British Baking Show? It's been the subject of arguments over culture, identity, and copyright.
Holiday Supply Chain Issues of Ancient Rome
Hey, at least we’re not trying to track down frankincense and myrrh.
Charity Scams of Yore
Between the 1850s and 1940s, a charity scam worked a collection circuit of Evangelical Christians in least five hundred towns across eighty countries.
Women in Science Textbooks
A team of scholars examined the seven most popular ecology textbooks. Guess what they didn't find?
In History, The Past is the Present is the Future
If the past is so all terribly bad, then aren’t we lucky in the present?
Whatever Happened to Airships?
In moving away from fossil fuels, some in aviation are thinking of bringing back helium-assisted flight.