Marshall Islands Wave Charts
Charts constructed of carefully bound sticks served as memory aids, allowing sailors of the Marshall Islands to navigate between the islands by feel.
Return to Pirate Island
The history of piracy illustrates a surprising connection to democratic Utopian radicalism—and, of course, stolen treasure.
The Ethical Life of Euphemisms
Euphemisms can hide facts that need to be confronted. How do they work from a linguist's point of view?
Will AI Restore Our Sense of Wonder?
According to philosopher Max Weber, science led to humanity's disenchantment. But reaching AI Singularity might spark our sense of wonder all over again.
What’s Causing the Rise of Hoarding Disorder?
Now that the DSM lists severe hoarding as a disorder apart from OCD, psychologists are asking what explains its prevalence.
Why Are Video Games so Great?
An anthropologist investigating one group of committed gamers found people attracted not to realism, but to deeply engaging cooperative projects.
Can We Build a Better Facebook?
Is it time to turn our back on Facebook? And if so, what social network could possibly replace it?
The Social Responsibility of American Industrialists
In the 1890s, the first public relations professionals began advising the wealthy on how to use philanthropy to placate the public.
Civil Religion
The US has created its own "civil religion," a complex body of ambiguous public assertions of faith that obscure the varied, private beliefs of the populace.
ISIS’s Destruction of the Ruins of Palmyra
ISIS militants destroyed two of Palmyra' most important structures, the Temple of Baalshamin and the Temple of Bel, both of which had stood for 2,000 years.