Polar Expedition or Publicity Stunt?
Richard E. Byrd's 1928-1930 Antarctica Expedition was sponsored by mass media. Was it all about science and exploration -- or about Byrd's personal #brand?
When the Park Ranger Was Not Your Friend
Early 20th century National Park Service Rangers were a notoriously rough-and-tumble lot.
When the Weather Service Spied on Americans
The United States National Weather Service began as part of the military, with a mandate to serve the interests of federal officials and business owners.
Civil Rights and New Deal America, Bruno Latour, and Bad Environmentalism
New books and scholarship from University of North Carolina, Harvard University Press, and University of Minnesota Press.
The Little-Known Nantucket-British Deal of 1814
Remembering a strange chapter of history when Nantucket allied itself with Great Britain.
The Plan to Sell Texas to Great Britain
Stephen Pearl Andrews, a lawyer, Houston socialite, and abolitionist, concocted a plan to free Texas' slaves—with a hint of treason.
How the Enslaved People of Arkansas Fought Back
Though there was never a unified uprising that made it into the history books, the enslaved people of Arkansas rebelled and resisted in significant ways.
When America Incarcerated “Promiscuous” Women
From WWI to the 1950s, the "American Plan" rounded up sexually-active women and quarantined them, supposedly to protect soldiers from venereal disease.
When Mining Destroys Historical Cemeteries
Mountain top removal mining brings with it total ecosystem destruction. It also erases history by destroying historic mountain cemeteries.
Jill Lepore: How to Respond to the Crisis of Our Institutions
Lepore talks about presidential deceit, why women are often forgotten by history, and the “epistemological crisis” of our era.