The Crime That Wasn’t Called Sodomy
In the American Philippines, officials used vagrancy laws to police same-sex relations while avoiding explicit bans.
How Sicilian Sulfur Fueled the Industrial Revolution
Britain’s textile boom depended on a resource extracted under brutal conditions far from its factories.
Inside the Newspapers of Iran’s Revolution
An expansive digital archive captures how journalists, satirists, and tabloids documented revolutionary Iran in real time.
The Violent History Behind Nutmeg
Beneath a familiar flavor lies a history of conquest, forced labor, and cultural upheaval in Indonesia’s Banda Islands.
How the Rio Grande Was Engineered into a Border
Twisting waters once blurred the boundary, but twentieth-century engineering turned the Rio Grande into a fixed, policed line.
When Satirical Magazines Confront Real Crises
In Chile and Argentina, satirical publications used humor to expose political crises overlooked by the mainstream press.
How Horses Shaped the Mughal Empire
The quest for powerful horses reshaped trade and diplomacy across early modern South Asia.
Building Brasília
A twentieth-century experiment in urban planning promised progress—but carried immense financial and human costs.
![A Chelsea Pensioner, wearing a sprig of orange blossom [?] in his buttonhole, sipping a dish of tea. Engraving by J. Jenkins after M. W. Sharp, 1840](https://daily.jstor.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/consuming_the_empire_alt_1050x700-600x400.jpg)
Consuming the Empire
Sugar, tea, and tobacco tied British daily life to empire, turning global exploitation into ordinary habits of consumption.
How Cold War “Orphans” Sang Their Way into American Hearts
Touring choirs helped cast Korean children as ideal adoptees—and Americans as benevolent saviors.