The Care of the Dead: A Reading List
An interdisciplinary bibliography exploring the care of the dead and how our final choices are shaped by culture, religion, economics, technology, and war.
What Skulls Told Us
The pseudoscience phrenology swept the popular imagination, and its practitioners made a mint preying on prejudices, gullibility, and misinformation.
The Radical Street Sellers of London
Many considered street vendors dangerous, not just for their general skirting of the law but because they comprised an outspoken political force.
“Microcosms of Empire” in the Colonial Grand Hotel
While Singapore's iconic Raffles Hotel may be marketed as a tranquil throwback to a bygone age, it also reveals the complicated truths of imperialism.
Gay Mass Consumption Before Stonewall
In the 1960s, the Mattachine Society had only a few thousand members. But tens of thousands of men subscribed to physique magazines published by gay entrepreneurs.
Darling or Degrading? Baby Shows in the Nineteenth Century
A stunningly popular form of entertainment, baby pageants promoted the cult of domesticity, showcased maternal pride, and opened a path to fame and wealth.
How Gender Got on the Menu
As women began to be welcomed into restaurants, some started catering to what they perceived as “female tastes,” largely meaning the sugary stuff
Even the Best Jim Crow School…Was Still a Jim Crow School
Before Brown v. Board of Education, Black activists split between integrationist and separatist factions, particularly at New Jersey’s Bordentown School.
The First Famous Football Team Behind Bars
Sing Sing's football team, The Black Sheep, ascended to fame even though its players were incarcerated. One player was so good, he signed with the Eagles.
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.