The Monroe Doctrine’s Checkered Past
This 1823 policy initially focused on preventing European colonization in the Americas. But different U.S. presidents have used it to mean different things.
Who Was La Malinche?
La Malinche was a key figure in the conquest of the Aztecs. But was she a heroine or a traitor? It depends on whom you ask.
Border Walls are Symbols of Failure
From feudal fortresses to contemporary border barriers, walls have always offered more symbolic value than real protection.
Did Kongolese Catholicism Lead to Slave Revolutions?
The legacy of Kimpa Vita, a Kongolese Catholic mystic, was felt from the U.S. to Haiti.
Who Were the Beothuk, the Lost People of Newfoundland?
The remains of two of the very last of the Beothuk are finally being repatriated to Canada. Why has it taken almost 200 years?
How Chocolate Came to Europe
Pre-Columbian cultures valued chocolate highly as a drink, and often served it at important events. It wasn't made into a solid candy until 1847.
The Fable of the Fourteen Points
Woodrow Wilson's legendary support for "self-determination" is indeed just a legend.
Down the Research Rat Hole
While writing her forthcoming book about Polynesia, the author discovered the work of Teuira Henry, a scholar and folklorist who studied ancient Tahiti.
Feasting Tips From Ancient Greece
Many of us strive to avoid talking politics at a big holiday feasts. But in Homer's Greece, feasting was all about politics.