A woman working late at night on business plans

How to Headhunt for “Singapore Inc”

Some upwardly mobile Singaporeans who have worked abroad may express their buy-in through coming-of-career narratives.
Kanuhura Island, Maldives

The Maldives: Paradise Lost?

Marketed as a luxury tourist destination, the Maldives struggles with the legacy of an authoritarian government and the existential threat of climate change.
Egyptian papyrus which describes therapy of migraine by bandaging a clay crocodile with herbs stuffed into its mouth to the head of the patient.

Crocodile of a Migraine? An Egyptian Rx

Why the ancient Egyptians did—or did not—recommended strapping a clay crocodile to an aching head.
Ettore Petrolini

Laughing With the Fascists

Mussolini’s regime isn’t generally associated with a sense of humor, but the Fascist party found comedy useful in certain circumstances.
Cover of The Culture Arts Review also known as 文华 Wén huá, 1929

Industrial Policy via Women’s Magazines

In the early 1900s, women’s magazines helped both women and men grapple with China’s fast-changing world of technology and industrial activity.
Mural by Diego Rivera which satirizes the role of the US, UFC, Catholic Church and the military in the Guatemalan coup. The individuals giving the handshake are John Foster Dulles and general Castillo Armas.

A Private Coup: Guatemala, 1954

A 1954 coup, backed by the CIA and private citizen William Pawley, installed an authoritarian regime and touched off four decades of civil war in Guatemala.
Devil's Island

The Devilish History of Devil’s Island

French Guiana's Devil’s Island has witnessed some of humanity’s hardest moments, from the brutalities of slavery to the punishments of penal servitude.
Çatalhöyük

Çatalhöyük: Its Story Continues

Our understanding of the Neolithic city of Çatalhöyük continues to evolve as archaeologists challenge inherited biases in the face of new material evidence.
Wilhelm Reich portrait

Wilhelm Reich: Twice Burned

A psychoanalyst and physician, Reich fled the Nazis only to be detained by the US as an “enemy alien” during World War II. And then came the sexual revolution.
Nizamiye Mosque in Midrand, Greater Johannesburg, South Africa

Recovering the Malay Manuscripts of South Africa

Descendants of those trafficked from Southeast Asia to South Africa by the Dutch, Cape Malay Muslims use surviving kietaabs to connect to their heritage.