Making Egypt’s Museums
The world’s largest archaeological museum is poised to open on the Giza Plateau, building on two centuries of museum planning and development.
Workers of the World, Take PTO!
Vacations in the Soviet Union were hardly idylls spent with one’s dearest. Everything about them—from whom you traveled with to what you ate—was state determined.
Plant of the Month: Yerba Mate
The biological and cultural profile of mate has affected its global expansion, unlike other plants native to the Americas, such as cacao and maize.
Scientific Seances in Twentieth-Century Iran
Spiritism appealed to Iranian intellectuals who sought to reconcile their commitment to science with their pursuit of moral reform.
Dogs, the Four-Legged Crime-Fighters of Paris
Now a familiar part of policing, the partnership between canines and cops developed in an unpredictable fashion.
The Cosmopolitan Culture of the Gullah/Geechees
Emphasizing the isolation enforced by Lowcountry geography erases the agency of Gullah/Geechee communities in the preservation of African culture.
Stamp Collecting as Metaphor for the Free Market
The hobby was originally pursued by middle-class women and children. But its resemblance to capitalist values made it attractive to men.
When Monks Went Undercover to Steal Relics
Because relics were understood to be capable of working miracles, any relic that was stolen must have wanted to be.
Quiet Struggle Means Resistance without Protest
A lone resister is easy to take down, but there is safety in numbers, in conspiracies of silence, in refusals to testify against one's neighbors.
Meet the Man Behind the Peony
In China, gramophone and camera in tow, botanist and explorer Joseph Rock collected seeds from the tree peony that bears his name.