Mahatma Gandhi, Master Mediator
Gandhi's legacy helped shape independent India, if in sometimes indirect ways.
The Tree Huggers Who Saved Indian Forests
The Chipko activists of 1970s and ‘80s India saved their forests by calling attention to the deep interdependence between humans and the natural world.
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.