What Are Colonies For? France and Algeria, 1848
Algeria was a safety valve for the Second Republic: a place to funnel the militant working class to subdue them as colonists and farmers.
Jackie’s French Connection
Jacqueline Kennedy, with her French ancestry and command of the language, was a not-so-secret American weapon in US-France relations in the early 1960s.
The World War II Escape Route from France to Martinique
After the fall of France to the Nazis in 1940, some refugees tried to make it out through the Caribbean.
How the Paris Catacombs Solved a Cemetery Crisis
One of the most popular tourist destinations in Paris—the Catacombs—was started as a solution to the intrusion of death upon daily life.
100 Years of Fox News
When it began as Fox-Movietone News, the company was known for appealing to viewer's tastes by leaving out upsetting news, including the rise of fascism.
What Madame Bovary Revealed About the Freedom of the Press
Gustave Flaubert was put on trial for obscenity. Why didn't he fight government censorship harder?
Word to your Mother (Tongue): Can Hip Hop Save Endangered Languages?
Hip hop is not only linguistically innovative, it helps preserve indigenous languages via oral tradition.