How the Railways Killed a Medieval Law
Deodands put a price on objects that caused death, sometimes providing compensation to bereaved families.
The Women Written Out of Mining History
Women have mined for centuries, but laws barring them from the industry helped cement the idea that mining was men’s work.
The Nazi Car That Conquered the World
The Volkswagen Beetle helped symbolize Germany’s postwar rebirth, despite its origins in Hitler’s vision of a “people’s car.”
The Jewish Labor Bund’s Anti-Zionist Legacy
For many Jewish leftists before 1948, Zionism was far from the only vision for the Jewish future.
The Logistics That Powered the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War became a testing ground for private contractors and military systems that still shape conflict today.
Ancient Rome: A City of Immigrants
A neighborhood beyond the Tiber became home to generations of Jewish and Syrian migrants who reshaped the imperial capital.
Born Without a Country
In Southeast Asia, colonial legacies and citizenship policies continue to leave hundreds of thousands without legal nationality.
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.